Life On The Other Side: Bolt
by Kate-Emma
Summary: Complete - Part 1 of 6 - CID investigate a man named Craig Bolt for running underage brothels - The team are outsmarted by Bolt at every turn, but when drugs are discovered, can PC Brown make the breakthrough that will nail Bolt?
1. Bolt

Life On The Other Side: Bolt

CID takes up a campaign to bring down local brothel-king Craig Bolt on rumours of supporting the trade of underage prostitutes. What they uncover is more than they imagined…

In Part 1: Bolt, the team follow up Craig and his wife Hayleigh as they traffic women in from overseas, but all these women have passports and working VISAs, and all are of legal age. Can they prove Bolt is into something deeper than what they find?

Rated M  
PC Millie Brown/DS Max Carter/OC  
Crime

_Chapter One;  
_Bolt

DC Stevie Moss stuck the picture up on the whiteboard. The dark-haired figure, three-day-growth covering his chin, growled back at them, his sneer meeting every face in the room. "His name is Craig Bolt. He's just come down from Glasgow and he's suspected of running two underage brothels in the area, one on the Barton Street patch and one on ours."

DS Stuart Turner stepped forward to explain what he knew. "The only registered brothel on our patch is run by his wife Hayleigh, but as far as we know, everyone there is over 21." He wrote an address on the board. "That said; we're following this one with interest because as far as we can see, it's not all it says it is."

"We've had six reports of abuse on the girls at the brothel. Just last July one girl was thrown down two flights of stairs at her mother's home on the Maycroft. She didn't press charges, but it was believed to have been Bolt." Stevie spoke up. "And it seems that this is how he treats any girl who tries to leave his line of work."

"What about the underage girls allegation? Where'd that come from?" PC Millie Brown, who was seated up the back, spoke up.

"An old colleague of Bolt's is an informant of mine. He mentioned it in passing, I don't think he actually meant to." Stuart gave a sly smile. "But he's given us exactly what we want. Bolt has been on the radar for a while now, but we've had nothing more than possession charges on him. He's as slippery as a frog in butter."

"Your analogies scare me Stuart." Stevie muttered, stepping forward again. Millie, and the other PC with her, Ben Gayle, both chuckled too. At the front of the room a very serious-looking DS Max Carter stayed still and silent, just staring at the board in his usual brooding way. Millie didn't look at him. It was pretty much public knowledge amongst the relief that Millie had taken a liking to Max a while ago, something that she'd neither accepted nor denied, taking the high road and staying completely silent on the matter. Of course hoping, in that silence, that her colleagues' big mouths hadn't let the rumour spread to CID. Stevie continued as Stuart just grinned a reply. "This is where you come in PC Brown, Gayle, we need you to get into the brothel, find out if Bolt's in there. Any way you can, it's up to you."

"We'll just say we're looking for information, on a break-in down the road." Millie suggested. Max glanced up. She looked away. "That should get us inside, if they have the least bit of decency." She smiled.

Stevie gave a lazy, one-shouldered shrug. "Maybe not a safe assumption, but see what you can do. Once you know Bolt's in there, send through the keyword on the radio which is 'Anderson' and we'll come around."

"You going to pick him up there and then?" Ben asked, frowning.

Stuart shook his head. "Max and I will be following him. My informant says he has a job this afternoon at the docks. A delivery. We have no idea which dock though, so we need to find him. While you're doing that, the rest of us will be following up some other locals of his."

Millie nodded. "And if he isn't there? What's the codeword then?"

Stevie shook her head. "Nothing, just head back here. Hopefully someone will find him." Stevie gave a smile. "Alrighty, let's get to it. Hunting, my favourite part of the job." She turned to discuss something silently with Stuart as Millie and Ben stood, making for the door.

Max caught up with them. "Millie," Millie stopped and glanced back at him as Ben swapped a look with her and kept on to the car. "Be careful of Hayleigh Bolt, she's got a record."

Millie gave one of her usual brilliant smiles. "I know, I read the file. Don't worry, I'll get her to talk." Then, politely ignoring the fact he seemed very ready to say something else, Millie continued on her way.

**  
A/N: **Beware… I have a new ship! I believe they're calling it Mix. Beware me and my love of Mix…


	2. Hayleigh

Life On The Other Side: Bolt

_Chapter Two;  
_Hayleigh

"You had a cute talk with DS Carter." Ben teased as they got in the car, Millie taking the driver's seat without Ben even noticing, too caught up in taunting her. "What was that about?"

Millie gave her slightly embarrassed smile. "Oh well, you know." It dropped. "He told us to be careful of Hayleigh Bolt, what did you think?" She rolled her eyes and got in, not missing that Ben looked thoroughly disappointed he'd missed out on some fantastic canteen gossip. "You gossip like a woman Ben."

"Oh come on, I do not." He protested, but it was half-hearted and he finished his sentence with a cheesy grin. Millie just shook her head and started up the car.

*

Three knocks. That was how many it took before a young redheaded woman answered the door. She gave them a smile, very false, and waved them inside. "What's this pleasure officers?"

"PC Brown and PC Gayle. We're here regarding a break-in down the road, where you at home this morning?" Millie asked, surveying the room before her. A small room, what she would term a waiting area, sat to her left. Stairs to the right led up to an area she couldn't see. She guessed the business took place up there.

"Yes, I was here. As were two of the girls, would you like to talk to them?"

Ben nodded. "If that's possible Mrs. Bolt."

The redhead smiled. "Please, it's Hayleigh." She led them through to the kitchen. "Cup of tea?" Both shook their heads. "I didn't hear anything, what time was it?"

"About nine. It was ten doors down." Millie faked the information, but it seemed to pay-off.

"Actually, now you mention it, I did hear a car speed off around that time. They made off in a car, yes?" Millie nodded. "Yeah, it was about ten-past, I'd just finished breakfast. I didn't see it, I'm sorry, I just remember hearing it. We're usually a quiet street, not used to hoons and joyriders. They usually stick to the main roads, so I recall it. My husband thought about giving you guys a call, but I thought it was useless. You have better things to do than chase up teens with too much spare time. Now I wish we had."

"Your husband? Is he here? Can we talk to him?" Ben asked, trying hard to look like he wasn't fishing for information.

Hayleigh Bolt shook her head. "I'm afraid not officers, he had some debts to chase up. You know how it is. There aren't too many banks that will lend to brothels." Her honesty shocked Millie, but then Hayleigh certainly seemed to the type that had long ago accepted her job wasn't smiled upon in nicer societies. That said; it was registered and perfectly legal. They adhered to clean conditions, something checked on almost every month by the authorities, and all the girls were over 18 with working VISAs. They knew the line of wrong and right and constantly danced on it, but not once had they crossed it. Hayleigh's rap sheet held a few cases of attacking her husband, but not once had he pressed charges. There were a few assault allegations, but they slipped off her like margarine in a frypan. She was untouchable, but with an anger problem that warranted recording, and she knew her way with words. She'd talk herself out of any situation, or flirt her way out, and she knew exactly what to say to get anything she wanted. "Did you want to talk to the girls? I think they were probably still asleep at nine though, I usually try not to wake them until about one, you know how it gets around here in the early hours."

"You were up early then, if you were up at nine." Millie commented, making small talk as Ben wandered off towards the lounge to look around.

Hayleigh just smiled. "Insomniac PC Brown, I wouldn't recommend it." She headed back towards the door and the PCs took it as their cue to leave. "If that's all, good luck in finding them. No one wants that type around here."

Ben joined them. "No, not at all. Thank you for your time Mrs. Bolt." He pulled open the door and let himself out.

Millie paused and pulled out her card. "If you do see anything else. If one of the girls or your husband mentions anything, no matter how small, give us a call. Okay?"

"You got it." She shoved the card in her back pocket. "See you." She shut the door behind them.

Ben glanced back at Millie. "Well that was a waste of time."

"Here's hoping the others had better luck." She replied as they headed back towards the car. She glanced back at the house to find Hayleigh Bolt watching them from the front window. She turned and walked away as Millie caught her eye. With a small frown, Millie turned and went on her way.

**A/N: **To Megan and h.g girl, thanks for the reviews. We'll get the MIX fan club going here soon enough I'm sure! Hope you're enjoying it. More coming soon.


	3. Holman

_Chapter Three;  
_Holman

"Nothing." Stuart jumped back in the car as they left the bookies Bolt was known to frequent. "Damn it, I hoped for an easy hunt here. All right, what's next?"

Max stayed staring straight-ahead as he started up the car. "The Harley Club."

Stuart nodded. "Yeah, that's right." He grabbed his radio. "Anything Stevie?"

Stevie's voice came through the radio. "Will and I are at the brother's house. He hasn't seen Bolt for a week, so he says, but we'll see. He's packing up his car at the moment."

"Alright, get back to us when you hear anything." Stuart changed sets, calling back at base. "Guv?"

Neil Manson's voice came over. "PCs Brown and Gayle just returned from the Bolt house, he wasn't there. How was the bookie lead?"

"Dead end boss, no one's seem him for weeks, even the little old drunk in the corner." He grinned at Max but he didn't respond. "He's dropped off the radar, that's for sure."

"Well, he's got to go home sometime. If worst comes to worst, we'll catch him at the entrance to the docks."

"We're here." Max said, pulling over.

Stuart spoke again into the radio. "We're at the Harley Club now boss, we'll get back to you if we find anything." He followed Max out of the car and up towards the club. Inside they found the usually roaring nightclub empty, save for two girls cleaning tables and the man behind the bar counting his money. "Benjamin Holman?"

The man looked up. "Yeah, who's asking?"

Max and Stuart flicked out their warrant cards. "We're here about Craig Bolt. You seen him today?" Stuart continued.

Holman glanced at the cards then back up at them. He shrugged. "Maybe I have, why? What's he done now? Punched out another punk? Cos I tell you now, that's not worth charging, they're asking for it."

"He hasn't punched anybody lately, as far as we know, we just need to find him. Was he here last night?"

Holman watched as Max wandered silently over towards the girls to talk to them. "Yeah, about eight. Brought in the missus for a few drinks. Said it was a good day. I guessed it was her birthday cos he was pretty much drowning her in champagne."

"You guessed? Now you're not sure?" Stuart picked up.

"Well, see, she left about eleven and he stayed on with one of our locals. His name's Nikolai Brecht."

Stuart nodded slowly, recognising the name but unsure why. "Anything else?"

"He left at 2am. That's it. Brecht stayed on till about three. That was the last I've seen of him. Now you come in here looking for him. I'm not an idiot DS Turner, I can guess they're linked."

Stuart nodded as Max joined them. "The girls saw him leave here about two."

"That's what Mr. Holman just told me." Stuart glanced back at Benjamin Holman. "If you see him today Mr. Holman, give us a call." Stuart flicked his card onto the bar then they turned and left. "You heard of Nikolai Brecht?" He asked Max as they left the club.

"Yeah." He frowned, pausing. "I'm not sure of his record though."

"Alright, well, let's see what we can get on him back at the station." They hopped in the car and headed back.

**SoloStarr: **More converted eh? Well then, my work is being done! *evil laugh* Sorry about that...


	4. Brecht

_Chapter Four;  
_Brecht

"Who's this?" Neil asked as he entered the room to find Max sticking a new picture up on the whiteboard.

Stuart answered. "Nikolai Brecht sir. He was seen liaising with Bolt last night at the Harley Club by the club's owner Holman. Not your average nice guy." He passed Neil a copy of the large man's record. "Fat boy has seven charges of assault, two on his brother, and two suspected dealings with trafficking. Nothing proven though."

"Explains what he's doing buddying up to Bolt though. You think he might be that second man we're looking for? Bolt's right-hand man."

"Brecht's no one's right-hand man Guv, he's a 'my way or the highway' type of bloke." Max spoke up. "If anything, Bolt's HIS right-hand man."

"Okay, so what else have we got on him?"

"Not a lot, he keeps himself to himself. He isn't married, his only family is his brother, and the only connection we can find with Bolt is that he frequents the brothel far too often." Stuart muttered with a hint of a smile.

Neil ignored it. "The brother? Where's he at the moment?"

"Longmarsh. He's in for the next sixteen weeks on an aggravated burglary charge."

"Okay, known lairs?"

"Only the Harley Club and he left there this morning. The club re-opens at ten, assuming he isn't off celebrating a big windfall from the docks after this afternoon." Stuart slapped the paper down on the desk. "No registered vehicle, last known address has been sold and no known place of work. He's literally fallen off the radar."

"Well someone must know where he is. Get onto Longmarsh and organize a chat with his brother, see if he's been contacted lately. Hopefully he'll have an address at least."

"We're still keeping a look-out for Bolt's blue Vauxhall. Nothing yet." Stuart frowned. "How can two men just disappear completely? This area isn't big enough."

"No, it's not possible. Someone must have seen them." Neil frowned to himself. "Maybe you should just get down to the docks and have a sniff around. It looks like our last option now they've well and truly gone to ground."

"I thought we didn't want to tip anyone off? If we go down there and are seen, there's no chance Bolt will turn up. He's not dumb enough to leave that place unattended during the day. He knows the system too well to do that." Max said, crossing his arms and frowning at the picture of Bolt.

"It has to be done, we're running out of options and time. When did your informant say the boat would come in?"

"3pm." Stuart glanced at his watch. "That gives us four more hours."

"Not enough time. The obbo is set for quarter past three. If we don't have him by half two I'm going to have to pull the plug."

"Oh come on, no, we can't." Stuart protested.

"I don't really have a lot of options here DS Turner. No Bolt, no obbo, and that was always the case. So, we have to find him."

"Maybe we should head back to the bookies, see if they've seen him in the last hour." Max suggested.

Neil nodded. "Okay, go with it. Where's Stevie and Will?"

"They're still on Bolt's brother. If he turns up there, they'll get him."

"Okay, get back to me as soon as you get something." Neil left the room.

Stuart frowned and grabbed his coat. "This smells like a long shot."

"It's the only shot we've g…" Max was cut off as the doors swung open and a figure rushed into the room.

"DS Turner?" Millie waved her phone and Stuart looked up. "Hayleigh Bolt just called me. Craig just arrived home."

Stuart grinned. "Fantastic. Nice work Millie." He clapped her on the shoulder as he and Max rushed past. Max gave her a nod. Millie just re-pocketed her phone and watched them go.

**SoloStarr and Sassy J: **Thanks for the support, i'm glad you're enjoying it  
**Krissie: **You're not alone, i was a Math fan too, but they converted me (and it helped that Beth left. :( )  
**h. g girl: **Well if i can entertain one of the first, i know i'm doing okay. Power to the MIX fans! lol


	5. David

_Chapter Five;  
_David

"Fantastic sarge," she grinned at Will and gave a thumbs-up. "Yeah, we're on him now. He's on Canley High Street at the moment. Okay, yeah, good luck." She put down the radio and glanced at Will. "They're on Bolt, a chase up by PC Brown, so we could have something there."

"So do we keep tailing David or not bother?"

"We keep on him. He's Bolt's brother, he has to know something." Will nodded and turned his attention back to the road as David Bolt took a left turn. "He's doubling back."

"Great, I think he's noticed us." He pulled over and let Stevie call in the index on the radio for traffic to find. Will got out of the car and glanced after him. He noticed David stick his head out of the window and look back at them. As he did a car came careening out of a side street and collected the front of his car. Bolt went spinning and Will ran up to the crash site, going first to Bolt's car. The driver of the other car was shaken but not hurt, but Bolt was unconscious. Yanking open the car door Will glanced at Stevie as she joined him. "You better get an ambulance." Pulling David Bolt out and laying him on the ground, Will started to rouse the man. He woke quickly, startled by the sight of Will.

"You! Why were you following me?"

Will pulled out his warrant card. "TDC Will Fletcher, Sun Hill Police." The man slumped back. "You spoke to my partner here." He motioned to Stevie and David looked at her with a small nod. "Where were you going Mr. Bolt?"

"My ex-wife's place. I wanted to go talk to my daughter Ellie, she's 19 and struggling at university. I told you that I haven't seen Craig, why don't you believe that?"

"Where is she? Was she expecting you?"

"Yes. She's at 36 Maycroft Estate, she's there with her mother." He groaned. "God, do you people ever listen?"

Will stood as the ambulance appeared and went over to Stevie. "He was headed to his daughter's place."

"Can she confirm that?"

"He says she can."

"Check it. I'll go talk to the other driver." Will grabbed his radio and went searching for the daughter's number as Stevie went to the man in the other car. "Sir, can you tell me who you are and what happened?"

The man, a tall fair-haired man of about 30, nodded. "My name is Lewis Dunn. I was coming down here and this guy just came out of nowhere, he wasn't even watching the road, and I couldn't stop. What happened?"

"Alright Mr. Dunn, thank you." She jotted down the details then turned away.

"What about my car?"

"Do you have a phone?" He nodded and pulled it out. "So, call a tow-truck." She headed back to the ambulance where they were loading David Bolt. "How is he?"

The paramedic answered. "No more than a broken ankle. He's fine. Just, give him some time, we've got him on pain relief at the moment. Do you want to come down to the hospital with him?"

Stevie shook her head. "I'll get someone from uniform to meet you down there." She grabbed her radio and called for uniform support as Will walked back towards her talking on his mobile. She finished the call then watched him talking. He hung up a minute later. "Well?"

"I just spoke to Ellie Roxon. She was expecting her father twenty minutes ago to talk about getting her a loan. He was telling the truth."

"Roxon?"

"Her mother's maiden name. She assured me her father was David Bolt. Described him perfectly and even gave us his rego. I think he was genuine about not hearing from Craig because Ellie mentioned the same thing when I told her why we were following her father. She said she hasn't spoken to her uncle in years, said her father called him a bad influence."

"Probably a good call on David's part." She sighed. "Okay, so we can say David isn't in on this whole underage prostitute thing then. Maybe not safely, but let's just say he isn't." Will nodded. "That was a morning wasted. Let's get back to the nick, see what we can find on someone DS Turner mentioned. Someone called Brecht."

Will frowned. "I know that name." He paused. "And I think I know where we can find him."

Stevie beamed. "Great. Let's go then." They headed back to the car.

**h.g girl: **There's 25 chapters in each story and six parts in the series altogether. Following this there's; Part 2: Natovnia, Part 3: Brown, Part 4: Carter, Part 5: Faison and Part 6: Spark

**No1Jater: **Down here the Max/Millie pairing just started (they've just shown 'Righteous Kill') but I'm not the only one I know who can't wait for 'Smash and Grab'. I, as I'm sure you do, hope there will be more for these two in the future.

**Lalalucy: **In that case: welcome to the Bill archives and I'm glad you like the story. I hope you find some more favourites on here because there's some fantastic pieces (and keep the Mix (I believe the correct name is Mallie actually! Lol) love going by writing one too. I'd love to read it!).

**Krissie: **If I can keep converting people then soon we'll have an army of Mallie fans. Lol!

**Megan: **Thanks again for the love. It's so good to be back to it after a long hiatus and have so much support, especially for such an obscure pairing. ;)


	6. Cray

_Chapter Six;  
_Cray

"How long has it been?"

Stuart checked his watch. "An hour. You don't think we've missed him do you?"

"I hope not. There's still 2 ½ hours till the boat comes in." Stuart started tapping the wheel. "Stop that."

Stuart pouted. "Well, we're in a good mood aren't we?"

Max ignored him and looked back at the house. "There's absolutely no one moving around in there."

"Maybe we should give uniform a call, send PC Brown in. They're expecting her anyway, to follow up the 'Anderson case'."

"No, she might tip them off."

Stuart snorted. "Good to know you still think so highly of uniform."

"I don't have a problem with uniform." Blank-faced, Max kept watching the Bolt house.

"No, I forgot, just her." Stuart teased. "What do you think Max? You'll be alone in CID and she'll track you down and kill you for calling her an airhead last time she had the misfortune of sharing a case with you?"

"Something like that." Max returned, completely deadpan.

"As if anyone actually needed an excuse to kill you before…" Max glanced at him. "Just saying."

"Yeah, well, don't." He turned his attention back to the house just as the front door opened and a tall, pretty redheaded woman stepped out.

"Bolt married that? Well, he's many things but clearly not so bad with the ladies."

Max had seen Hayleigh Bolt's picture many times and always thought her very pretty, but seeing her in real life was different. He watched her for a moment then snapped his attention back to the house. "Where's Bolt?"

"I don't know but where's she going?" Stuart asked. Max watched her then opened the passenger door. "Where are YOU going?"

"I'm following her. You stay here. If she leads us to something relevant, then I'll call you." He shut the passenger door and started walking after her.

Twenty minutes later they entered Canley High Street and she stepped into a corner grocery store. Frowning after her, Max eventually crossed the road and followed her in. Grabbing a basket and pretending to look like he had a reason to be there, he watched her assessing milk labels and was about to write her off and leave when her phone rang.

"Cray? Where are you? You rushed off when I was trying to talk to you." Max stepped behind a shelf and listened as she put one of the milks back and turned around. "No, don't give me that 'business' stuff, I don't believe it. Where the hell are you?" She turned towards the shelving unit Max was standing behind and started grabbing a few cans, seemingly not looking at what she was putting in her basket. "Oh forget it." She shut her phone angrily and stuffed it in her back pocket. Max saw his chance and slipped out from behind the shelf and joined Hayleigh as she stood there fuming, glaring at tins of asparagus like they were to blame. With the tiniest of movements, he removed the phone from her back pocket and pocketed it. She didn't even notice. As he made to slip away again, she spoke. "How can there be so many varieties of asparagus? I mean, seriously, it's only one stupid vegetable." She glanced at him.

He gave a weak smile. "You should see the variety of mashed potato. In the end though, it's all just tastes like dirt."

She grinned. "Good point." She grabbed a can then turned back to him and held out a hand. "Hayleigh Spark." Max noticed the use of her maiden name.

Taking her hand he shook it. "Max Carter." He motioned to the basket. "You like beetroot?" She had five cans of beetroot in her basket.

Looking at it, she laughed. "I didn't even see what I was picking up. Thanks." She started putting them back.

"No problem." He walked away, off to the other side of the store where he pulled out her phone and checked the last number who called. He copied it into his phone then ran through her list. Craig's number on the list didn't match the last number called, but he copied that down too. Then, grabbing a bag of chips off a shelf so it looked like he had a reason to be there, he started back towards Hayleigh. She was headed for the cash register. "Excuse me." Hayleigh looked up. "You dropped this."

Hayleigh touched her back pocket then grinned. "Thank you so much. I keep forgetting that's not a secure pocket." She took the phone back and stuck it in her jacket pocket, zipping it up tightly.

To keep making conversation, Max stuck his small amount of supplies on the counter next to hers. "Don't worry about it. I do it all the time too. I've lost four phones in my time, my ex-wife hated me."

"Yeah, my husband thinks I'm an idiot but this coming from a man who is constantly losing his car keys." She handed some money over and grabbed her bags just as the man started bagging Max's items. "Thank you again mister… sorry, what was it?"

"Carter."

"That's right. Thank you mister Carter." With one last brilliant smile, Hayleigh left the store. Handing over twenty pounds and not waiting for change, Max grabbed his 'shopping' and left, watching her head back home. She wouldn't be leading him to Bolt, but she had given him something even more valuable. A mobile phone number. Watching her turn a corner out of the High Street, he smirked.

"No, thank you Mrs. Bolt."


	7. Kowalski

_Chapter Seven;  
_Kowalski

"Been shopping?" Stuart grinned as Max got back in the car and threw the plastic bag of supplies in the back seat.

Max nodded. "Pretty much." He flipped open his phone and brought up Craig's mobile number. "How do you think I did?"

"You got hot-wife's phone number? Nice work."

"Yeah, good for me. Let's head back to the station." Stuart started up the car and they drove away. They didn't notice Hayleigh Bolt watching them from the upstairs window.

*

Neil Manson was frowning over the radio as Max and Stuart entered the incident room. Back in her civvies, Millie was on a computer, trailing her finger down the screen in front of her as she read off it. They both looked up as Stuart spoke. "We got Bolt's mobile number Guv." Max shot him a look. "And by 'we' I mean him." He thumbed back at Max who dropped a plastic bag on his desk and fished into it. He withdrew a bag of chips that he tossed onto Stevie's desk, a bottle of cola he dropped on Will's desk then a Kit Kat. He came over to Millie and read over her shoulder.

"What's this?"

Millie glanced at him. "Will and Stevie are following up on Brecht. Will thinks he may be here." She tapped the screen and motioned to a picture of a tour bus.

"Brecht runs a tour bus company?"

"Yeah, sort of, he's part-owner anyway, but under his mother's maiden name Kowalski. Nikolai Kowalski also has a registered address, car and mobile phone. TIU are trying to get a trace on it now." She glanced up. "No luck on Bolt?"

"He wasn't at home but I spoke to his wife and she gave me his mobile number." Millie lowered an eyebrow. "She just doesn't know she gave it to me." Millie grinned and Max dropped the Kit Kat down on the table. "On me." He walked back towards Stuart and DI Manson who were listening to Will's past dealings with Brecht.

"It's just a guess Guv, but from what you've said he looks like he certainly sounds like Kowalski."

"How did you run into him before?" Neil asked.

"In uniform. He was having problems with a few passengers who wouldn't pay. They said he didn't give them the tour they paid for, but he was adamant he had." He went off for a minute and they heard him give Stevie directions. "Anyway, he started getting bullish on them and we had to intervene. As soon as we turned up he changed completely, gave these people their money back and even offered them a free tour. It was bizarre. I guess that's why he stuck with me. His ID said Nikolai Kowalski, but while we were there I heard someone call him Brecht. He seemed a bit shaken when I asked why the man called him that but he passed it off as a nickname, something about a German guy."

Millie spoke up. "Bertolt Brecht, a German playwright and poet. He was the 'father of culture' in Germany during the Weimar Republic after the First World War but his fame died out when Germany was dragged into the Second World War." She looked up as the men fell silent. "I studied drama and history at high school."

Stuart laughed and Neil just shook his head, taking the radio. "Okay, so you're pretty sure this is Brecht?"

"Yeah, I'm sure he ain't no playwright." Will snickered and Millie just shook her head, ripping open her Kit Kat. "What do you want us to do if Brecht is here?"

"Just follow him. We need to find out of he's in on this business with Bolt."

"You got it."

Neil put down the radio. "So, Bolt's mobile number? How'd you manage that?"

Max shrugged. "Natural detective skills… and I nicked Hayleigh Bolt's phone."

Neil frowned. "Are you sure she didn't see you? If she noticed, Bolt will have dumped the phone by now."

"I still don't understand why she called me in the first place. There's no way it was about solving the break-in story we spun her." Millie said, pushing her chair back and standing up. She was rolling the Kit Kat around her hand as she spoke. "Especially now we know Bolt wasn't at home."

"So what are you suggesting? She knew who we were? She knew who I was in the shop?" Max asked, taking a seat on a desk behind him and crossing his arms defensively.

"Well, I'm not saying your detective skills are in question sarge, but she struck me as someone who knew the law better than most. She must've known you would be waiting for her husband."

"So why would she call then? Tell us where he was?"

"No, she told you where he wasn't." Millie pointed out. Max was quiet, frowning. Millie broke the silence. "If you have the number sarge I can check it, find out if it's traceable or a pay-as-you-go service." Max nodded and slid his phone from his pocket, handing it to her. She took it and left the room.

"Well, she got you there Max." Stuart slapped him on the shoulder as Max frowned.

"I hate to admit it, but she's right. Hayleigh Bolt played us, which means she probably knew exactly who I was in the store. So why'd she let me go?"

"Don't take it personal mate, women do that." Stuart left and the DI returned to his office. As they went Max noticed the half-finished Kit Kat on the table in front of him. With a small frown he went back to his desk.


	8. Spark

_Chapter Eight;  
_Spark

Millie returned twenty minutes later and placed Max's phone down on the desk before heading off to the DI's office. Max followed her to the door as Neil glanced down at the information she'd just handed him. "The one he called from was a pay-as-you-go model, but the one his wife had on her list was registered. It's registered in the name of Craig Spark which is why we couldn't find it."

"Spark?" Neil asked, looking to Max for confirmation.

"His wife's maiden name." He slid past Millie and made for the information, assessing it. "You have the list of all calls made from the pay-as-you-go?" Millie nodded, motioning to the third sheet of paper. Max picked it up and frowned at it. "Okay, so that one was his wife." He picked up a pen and drew a line next to it then scanned for any other calls to her. There were two more and he crossed them off. "After the call I heard, he called the same number four times but they only went for a maximum 30 seconds apiece." He noted it down. "Can you track this one?" He handed the note to Millie who took it with a nod and left.

"The registered one isn't traceable, he's removed the battery." Neil stated, showing Max the other piece of paper. "Your only lead is the pay-as-you-go."

"Okay, I'll check the rest of these out. Hopefully one matches with the Kowalski number." He snapped up the piece of paper.

"A little birdy told me you have a problem working with PC Brown. This won't impact on the case will it?" Neil asked, not looking up from his computer.

Max frowned. "A little birdy named Stuart?" Neil didn't move. "There's no problem. And even if there was, I wouldn't let it impact on the case."

"Good. So, when you find out who owns the numbers on there, you and Millie can go talk to them." He glanced up, almost eager for a debate, but nothing came. Max just nodded and left. Neil went back to work.

*

"David Bolt." Millie dropped a piece of paper on the desk and Max realised it was the note he'd given her in the DI's office. She'd written in her own scribbled handwriting 'DAVID BOLT' in capital letters across the top. "DC Moss said the brother was adamant he hadn't spoken to Bolt recently."

"Well technically he hadn't when Will and Stevie chased him into a car accident." Max picked up the slip and glanced at her handwriting, noting how she drew her I's with a circle instead of a dot. For a second he wondered what a handwriting expert would say about that then went back into case mode. "David couldn't pick up because he was in hospital, still is from what I've heard. But why would Bolt call him?"

"Maybe he heard about the accident?"

"Maybe. But from whom? The only ones who knew were his contactable family. And that was his ex-wife and his… daughter…" Max scanned the list he'd been checking. "What was the daughter's name?"

Millie frowned. "Umm…" she frowned then jogged over to the desk she'd been working on before, Banksy's, and came back with a few handwritten notes. "Ahhh…" she traced her finger down the paper again, reading quickly. She stopped and tapped the paper. "Eleanor Roxon."

"Bingo." Max motioned to a highlighted number on his list. "Twelve calls in the last week to an Eleanor Spark."

Millie frowned. "She said she hadn't spoken to her uncle in a long time."

Max stood. "Well, if a long time means sixteen hours then yeah, it's been a long time. Grab your coat, we're going to go see Miss Roxon." He picked up the pieces of paper they'd collected as Millie went to the coat rack by the door and pulled out that tan-coloured coat Max could still recall finding covered in blood not so long ago. He frowned the memories away as he folded up the papers and pocketed them. As he reached her he chucked her his keys. "You drive." He walked out without looking back at her.


	9. Eleanor

_Chapter Nine;  
_Eleanor

"Which one is it?" Max asked, getting of the car.

"36." Millie locked the car with a press of a button then pocketed the keys. She glanced up at the stairwell above her and saw number 31 on a door. "This way." She led the way as Max followed. "She probably isn't even here, she's probably at St Hughes with her father." She shot back at Max.

"Maybe."

"Hopefully." Millie seemed to be thinking aloud. "She clearly means a lot to him. I'm sure he'd be very upset if she wasn't with him after a car accident."

"I'm sure." He didn't hide his disinterest as he replied. They passed number 34.

"Well it's those people-skills that get victims to open up to you so well." Millie muttered under her breath.

Max pretended he hadn't heard, just motioning to a dark green door. "36." He stepped past her and to the door. It only took him one knock to get it open. The door had been kicked in. Max pushed it open slowly and stepped inside. "Miss Roxon?" Something banged upstairs and Max turned, pulling out his baton. He glanced back at Millie who'd also pulled out her self-defence weapon and was holding it out at her side. He motioned with one finger to himself, then her, then upstairs and she nodded. Moving towards the stairs he called out again. "Police. Who's up there?" Something crashed, sounding like it was falling down, then a thump like a window sliding down onto something. Max dashed up and Millie wasn't far behind him. The entire top floor was trashed and a mirror on a wall had fallen down and smashed onto the ground. They crunched over the broken glass slowly, Millie making for a room off to the side as Max kept on to the room they'd heard the trouble from. Pushing open the door slowly, Max frowned at the sight ahead of him.

"Millie!"

She joined him quickly, still holding her baton. She frowned too at the sports bag on the floor. "What the hell?" Max stepped into the room and to the bag as Millie went to the window. "There's someone running away down there." She grabbed her radio and read out a description of the figure as Max picked up a plastic bag that had been in the sports bag and analysed it, holding it with his coat.

"Cocaine."

Millie turned around. "You certain?" He nodded. She joined him, removing her jacket and using it to pick up a bag slowly, crouching in front of the sports bag. "There's…" she counted in her head. "There's eight bags here."

"At roughly a kilo each. Eight kilos of cocaine, cut, we're looking at a lot of money."

"You think that guy was after them?" She nodded to the window as she put down the bag slowly and carefully.

"Mhm, we must've disturbed him." He put down the bag and stood up, straightening his coat. "But the real question is, what are they doing here?"

Millie stepped past the bag and back out into the hall. "And if there's any more." She frowned at the name on the bedroom door. Eleanor. "I can't believe she's involved in drugs, she's a uni student, she's struggling to pay for her books."

"Drugs make a lot of money."

Millie glanced at a photo on the bookshelf. "She doesn't look like the type."

Max frowned back at her again. "Not this again…" he sighed. "Look, there isn't a type okay? Your local drug dealer could be anyone, even the sweet little girl with a university degree. Anyway, look at her family."

"Do you often build cases on assumptions of people?" Millie stared him down.

He didn't flinch. "I don't, do you?"

She frowned at him with distaste etched on her face before a voice downstairs broke the stare-off. Someone had entered the house. Millie turned and went downstairs and Max listened as someone spoke. "Who are you?" A shrill voice.

"Ma'am, I'm PC Brown from Sun Hill. Your house has been broken into."

"Well, yes, I can see that." The shrill voice said. "What've they taken?"

"Mum, what's happened?" A new voice.

Max went to the landing and looked down on the three women in the doorway. "Eleanor Roxon?"

The young, blonde girl in the doorway nodded. "Yes."

"Millie." He caught the PCs eye and she nodded.

"Eleanor Roxon, I'm arresting you on suspicion of supplying a Class A drug. You do no…"

"What's going on?" Mrs. Roxon asked.

Max stepped out of sight for a minute then returned holding the sports bag filled with drugs. Eleanor's eyes fell at the sight of it. "You better come with us down to the station Mrs. Roxon." She nodded slowly as Millie led Eleanor from the house.


	10. Roxon

_Chapter Ten;  
_Roxon

"Take the lead on this one."

Millie turned, her hand on the door to the interview room. "Excuse me?"

"I said, take the lead on this one. You went with her in the car, you spoke to her right?" Millie nodded. "Okay, so take the lead. Hopefully she'll open up to you. You're about the same age."

"How old do you think I am?" Millie asked with a hint of humour in her voice. Max just gave a blank look so she turned the door handle and went in. Inside Eleanor Roxon and her mother Andrea were whispering, the mother glaring at the 19-year-old in a way that simply said 'tell them the truth or else young lady'.

Max flicked on the interview room's tape deck. "Interview with Eleanor Roxon. Present are DS Carter…"

"PC Brown." Millie spoke up, taking a seat and smiling at the girl.

"And Ms. Andrea Roxon." Max scraped back his own chair and sat down, glancing at Millie who took the hint and started.

"Eleanor, can I call you Ellie?" The girl nodded. "Ellie, first up, can you tell us what you told me in the car?"

"The drugs aren't mine." The girl blurted, giving her mother wide eyes. "I found them."

"Okay, so can you tell me where you found them?"

"On the estate, behind a bin. I thought, maybe, it wasn't what I thought it was."

"Ellie," Millie said soothingly. The teen was getting agitated quickly. "Now, you're a smart girl, you're at university right?" She nodded again. "So why would you pick up a bag of drugs if you suspected you knew what they were?" She shrugged. "Come on Ellie, DS Carter and I just want to find out who they belong you because I don't believe they belong to you."

Ellie looked at Max in disbelief and Max tried hard not to look sceptical. He assumed he pulled off the look as Ellie looked back at Millie, but it seemed she wasn't budging. "I don't know who owns them, I found them." She started breathing heavily. "Can we break now? I have asthma and I feel it coming on.

Max agreed reluctantly and stopped the tape. As a uniformed officer he didn't know joined the Roxons, he stepped outside with Millie. "She's putting it on, they must belong to her uncle."

Millie smiled. "I knew you didn't believe they were hers."

"That doesn't stop the fact she's clearly hiding them for someone. Someone that hasn't made a secret of where they are if people are breaking into her home to get them."

"Maybe you should have a go with her sarge, I think she's had enough of softly-softly."

Max shook his head. "No, I go bad-cop on her and she'll fake a full-blown asthma attack and we'll have to cart her down to St Hugh's. You keep on her but we'll change our approach. Ask about the calls to her uncle's phone. Find out why she's been talking to Craig Bolt when she told Will that she hasn't."

Millie nodded. "Got it."

"I'll get the phone records, you get back in there and try and calm her down." He headed back towards the custody sergeant as Millie pushed open the interview room door and found Ellie had calmed down and was now talking to her mother again.

Millie nodded to the uniformed officer, PC Archer, and he left. She then took a seat and smiled at the mother and daughter. Andrea glanced up then spoke. "Look, PC Brown, I've spoken to my daughter and she wants to tell you the truth."

"Okay, shoot."

"The drugs belong to a friend. I can't tell you his name."

Millie smiled. "Okay, that's a start. As soon as DS Carter gets back you can tell the tape that."

Ellie looked scared. "I can't. I won't."

Millie's smile dropped. "Really? Why not?"

"I just can't okay, he'll get into trouble."

Crossing her arms, Millie just frowned. "Eleanor, your uncle is already in trouble." The 19-year-old's eyes widened and Millie knew she'd hit the nail on the head. "And if he's telling you to take the fall for him, he should be ashamed. You have your whole life ahead of you Ellie. What are you doing at university? Nursing isn't it?" She nodded. "With a drugs charge on your head you'll never work in a hospital." Her tone got darker, more menacing, and it was this side of Millie that Max walked back in on. He stopped in the doorway, watching the fear Millie had sparked in Eleanor's face. The girl was entranced by the PCs words, and they worked. "So if you want life to be normal and you want a chance to be somebody more than your uncle, in and out of trouble and constantly being confronted by the police, than I suggest you tell us exactly why there were eight kilos of cocaine in your room." The girl nodded slowly, solemnly.

At this Max made himself known by stepping into the room and restarting the tape. He looked at Millie with a nod, then at Eleanor. "So, Miss Roxon, do you want to tell us who the bags belong to?" He took a seat as the teen began to talk and shot Millie a glance that simply said 'good work'. She just smiled.


	11. Max

_Chapter Eleven;  
_Max

"What happened to softly-softly?" Max asked as they stepped out of the interview room. "You grilled her."

Millie frowned then realized he wasn't having a go. In fact, if Millie weren't so certain Max still thought her barely worth his precious time, she would've written his expression off as admiration. However, she put it down as humour. "You said if you go in bad cop, not if I go in."

"Mhm, well, it worked." He started back towards CID and Millie followed. "She handed Bolt over easy."

"She was scared, didn't think about the repercussions of hiding the drugs for him." She stopped. "But that wasn't Bolt that was running away from their place, so who was it? Who else would know?"

"Bolt probably got drunk and boasted about it in a pub."

"But they knew what they were looking for, went straight upstairs without even looking around downstairs. They broke the mirror on the landing, but the other rooms upstairs weren't even touched. He knew Eleanor had them, possibly even knew who she was."

Max frowned and stopped too. "No drunk would give away that much information." He glanced back at her, realising she'd stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Uniform have any luck with your description?" Millie shook her head. "Okay." He started back upstairs and she jogged to catch up to him.

"What do you have planned?" Millie asked as she caught up to him.

"I'm going to find our escapee, get down to the Maycroft and see if I can get any CCTV footage on him. You might have something there."

Millie frowned. "And, what do you want me to do?"

Max stopped and looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You report back to the DI then write up the interview. You cracked this case PC Brown, you take the credit for it." He gave her a nod then pushed open the swinging CID doors. Millie gave a small smile then, rotating the interview tape in her hand, pushed open the door too and followed him inside.

*

"What're you doing?"

Millie glanced up from the computer as Stuart joined her. "Bolt's niece just gave us eight kilos of cocaine and his name as the source."

"Oh very good. But this doesn't explain why you're typing up the report, signing it and just generally taking all the credit."

"DS Carter handed it over." Stuart raised his eyebrows as Millie nodded. "Yeah, I didn't believe it at first either, but no one's popped up from behind a desk and told me I'm on Candid Camera, so I'm going to believe he wasn't kidding."

"Well, Max doesn't kid so…" he grinned. "Namely because that would involve him being somewhat human."

Millie snorted and went back to work before glancing back at Stuart. "Where have you been anyway?"

Stuart waved a piece of paper. "Off harassing TIU. They got a lock on Brecht's phone." He grinned. "And guess where he is?"

"Please please please say the tour company."

"Got it in one." He grabbed the radio still sitting on his desk. "Base to Will, Base to Will." Stuart grinned at himself and Millie went back to her work. "Hey, Fletcher, answer the damn radio."

"What is it Stuart?" Stevie answered with a loud sigh.

"Where the hell is Fletcher?"

"Scoping out the place. What do you want with him?"

"Tell him to be cool cos Brecht, sorry, Kowalski, is there."

Stevie murmured softly. "Mmmm, okay, I'll try and see if I can get him back here. Talk to you later."

Stuart put the radio down and turned to Millie just as she sent the report and transcript to the printer. "Finished?"

She nodded. "Yeah." As she gathered up the sheets she brought them over for him to read. "The poor girl didn't even realise how much trouble she would be in if she took the fall for all those drugs."

"You really found eight kilos?"

Millie nodded. "Just sitting there on the bedroom floor. Course, someone had found it hidden somewhere and dragged it out. DS Carter has gone searching for CCTV so we can figure out who he is."

Almost as if he'd just been called, Max appeared holding some tapes. "Millie, enjoy." He dropped half the tapes on the table then turned and left the room.

Stuart glanced at her. "You heard the man." She pouted. "I'll take this to the DI."

"Don't you take my credit for that sarge." Millie grinned as she made for the tapes.

Stuart pointed at himself and tried to look innocent. "Who? Me?" With a laugh Millie left. Stuart sat down and went back to reading the transcript.


	12. Samuel

_Chapter Twelve;  
_Samuel

Millie paused the video at the sight of a dark-haired young man, but it wasn't him. She kept playing, covering a yawn quickly. It was only two but she was tired, and the obbo hadn't even happened yet! Max seemed to notice. "I'll have a coffee, white, no sugar." He slid five pounds across the space between them and Millie glanced at it.

"Subtle." She pouted.

He didn't look away from the screen so Millie just took the money and left. On her way through the halls she passed Nate Roberts talking to Roger Valentine. She stopped and smiled. "Hey."

"Oh look Roger, it's little Miss CID." Nate teased.

Millie just frowned and shook her head at him. "You know Nate, you're not as clever as you think."

"Ouch, that hurts on the inside." He tapped his chest and pulled a sad frown before grinning and turning away.

Roger glanced at her. "How's it going?"

Millie read from his expression that this wasn't about the case but about the last time Millie had been forced to work with DS Carter – the toy store break-in and Jensen case. That time Roger had played Millie's over-protective father-like figure and made sure Max's taunting didn't get to her. At the time it had, but since then Millie's crush on the moody Detective Sergeant had faded out to pretty-much indifference and she bore no grudges against him. Plus, she'd already proven she was no airhead. "It's fine."

"Okay, just making sure." He smiled in his usual way, that same 'you can tell me if you want' smile.

"No really, in fact," Millie lowered her voice. "It's scary, but he's been downright nice. You know, not nice-nice but DS Carter-nice."

"So, nice like a rabid dog that won't hurt you but looks ready to rip the throat out of anyone that even speaks to you."

Millie pointed at him with a grin. "Yes! That's it." She laughed and Roger relaxed. "Thanks Roger but really, I'm fine."

"That's all I need to hear." He touched her arm then walked away. Millie smiled after him warmly.

*

"There." Millie, having finished her tapes, leant over Max's shoulder and touched the screen with the tip of her right index finger. "That's him."

Max stopped the tape and played it back slowly, trying to get a picture but there didn't seem to be a great one. "Are you certain?"

Millie nodded. "The time fits and he's still wearing that green hoodie. See the emblem on the back?" She rested her elbow on the back of Max's swivel chair and put her chin in her palm. "That's him alright."

Slightly unnerved by how close she was, Max shifted the chair a little and she lost her balance, grabbing the table before she fell. She frowned at him, but he ignored her, just focusing on the one slightly presentable still he could find. "Print this out and see what you can do with it. Someone must know him." Then, standing and putting the remote down with a loud clap of plastic on wood, he left the room. Millie frowned wondering what she'd done now.

*

Twenty minutes later, having had no luck with the facial recognition software (the image too grainy), Millie packed up her picture and headed to the canteen to drown her sorrows in her friends' gossip. Down there she found Eleanor Roxon seated with PC Archer, just staring forlorn at the table. Millie went to her. "Ellie? What are you still doing here?"

"Just waiting for my mum, she had to go pick up dad from the hospital first. Anyway, I think she wanted to teach me a lesson. You know: here's the first leg on a path to gaol, act like your uncle and you'll be here all the time."

Millie put the picture down and took a seat across from the teen. "Look, your uncle took advantage of your good nature. People that take advantage of you are the ones at fault here, not you, as much as you like to blame yourself for it…" she drifted off a little then snapped back to reality. "The point is, if you keep at uni and stay away from your uncle, I'll probably never see you again."

Ellie smiled. "Thanks PC Brown."

"I'm just telling you the truth."

"No, for believing I didn't do anything wrong. The other officer didn't."

"DS Carter?" Ellie nodded. "Oh no, Max isn't too bad once you get to know him." Ellie gave a sceptical eyebrow and Millie laughed. "No, you're right, he's worse." Ellie's eyes fell to the picture on the table and she tipped her head slightly. Millie caught the look. "Ellie, do you know this guy?" She turned the picture so it faced Eleanor.

Ellie looked up, a mix of confusion and happy memories on her face. "Yeah, I do."

*

Millie pushed open the swinging doors of CID and held aloft a photo. "Found our mystery thief." She went to the whiteboard and stuck the photo up over where Stuart had written 'thief' and drawn a question mark. "You won't believe who he is." She grabbed a whiteboard marker and wrote in a name. 'Samuel Bolt'. She put the marker down and explained. "He's David Bolt's estranged son. He left the family home when David and Andrea separated six years ago, took to the streets and hasn't been seen since."

"So, if he's so long-lost, what is he doing breaking into his sister's room?" Stuart asked, raising an eyebrow. Millie nodded in agreement.

Max spoke up. "Let's find out."


	13. Nikolai

**Disclaimer: **Don't own 'The Bill'. Don't own characters. Ughhh…

**A/N: **Yeah, that's the sound of me passing out from this horrible head cold. *points to self* SWINE FLU! Lol. No, just a cold… but if I don't update for a few weeks make some inquiries. So, with a cold that makes me feel like I've been smacked with a sledgehammer and a chapter WITHOUT any Mallie in it, this should be fun. If Will doesn't get killed, it's a good day. ;)

_Chapter Thirteen;  
_Nikolai

"Are you with the company?" Will glanced up from watching the bus bay when a voice came from nearby. He turned to find himself face-to-face with a fat, middle-aged couple smiling broadly at him, cameras looped around their necks. It wasn't hard to assume they posed no real threat to his stakeout – they were tourists.

"No, I'm a tourist myself." Will faked, grinning at them.

They gave him a smile then motioned back to the bus bay. "Are you on this next tour?" Will picked up an American accent as the man spoke again. "No one else on this group speaks English."

"We'd like to make friends here. We really like the British. My grandfather was from around here." The woman spoke up, her voice squeaky and annoying.

Will smiled. "Yeah, well, it was good to meet you but I'm afraid I'm not on the next tour." He glanced back at the buses as a large, dark-haired man strode past. Will gaped. Success. He looked back at the couple. "That man there…"

"Mister Kowalski?" The American man said, pronouncing the name 'co-wow-ski'. "A good man. Gave us a discount if we agreed to a detour from the original plan."

"Really?"

"Yeah, down to the docks or something, a stop-off and a chance for a photo with Big Ben. We agreed, and the Japanese tourists, well, they don't even understand the tour map." The man guffawed, big heavy laughs that caused Kowalski to look up. Will ducked behind the wall again.

"I think the tour goes soon. Have a great time in England. Visit Buckingham Palace." Grabbing his phone, Will made off quickly.

"You too young man." The man called after him.

Will flipped open the phone and dialled Stevie's number, noting the three missed calls from her only briefly. She picked up straightaway and made to insult him, but Will cut her off. "Stevie, bring the car round to the Tallow St side, you can talk my ear off then."

*

The dark blue Vauxhall pulled up right next to Will as he stood behind a corrugated iron fence, watching the bus bay from the corner of his eye. Stevie wound down the window and leant across the passenger seat, frowning at him. "Where the hell have you been? Stuart radioed, Kowalski is here."

"I know, I saw him. He's leading a tour bus and guess where it's going? The docks."

"Great, get in, I'll call Stuart."

Will shook his head. "No, you follow him, I'm going to stay here and check his office. He must have something in there that connects him to Bolt. If we can't do that, then it's useless, he's just taking a trip down to the Thames."

"He'll lead us to Bolt."

"What if he doesn't though? What if Bolt doesn't turn up? Then what've we got?"

"We've got Brecht, now get in the car." Stevie ordered, frowning at him again.

"I'll call you if I find anything. Call me if the obbo does go ahead, I'll meet you there." Will turned and walked away.

Stevie growled. "William, get back here." She glanced behind her as a small line started to bank up. She was blocking the small road. One car honked and Stevie started to move, realising she couldn't hold up traffic without drawing attention to herself. She watched Will disappear from sight as she rounded the corner out of sight of the bus company entrance. As she did she picked up her radio. "Sarge, I'm following the bus company's next tour, Kowalski is on the bus. But we've got a slight problem…"


	14. Bradley

_Chapter Fourteen;  
_Bradley

"She's not downstairs, they must've gone home." Millie breathed, puffed from running downstairs then back up again to check whether Eleanor Roxon had left the building yet. "Do you want me to find out from the front desk?"

"Don't worry about it, we'll go talk to them at their house." Max grabbed the car keys in one hand lazily and glanced at Stuart. "Is the obbo going ahead?"

Stuart shrugged. "The DI's out, but said he'd be back by three. He said no Bolt no obbo, but I'm sure I can convince him to run with Brecht. 'Til then, I have a Fletcher to find." He waved the phone he was holding in his left hand.

"Good luck." Millie grinned. She grabbed her jacket and followed Max from the room. "I'm not having a go," she clarified, unsure whether Max still had a short fuse with her, "but is it safe to assume they have any idea where we can find him?"

"I'm not assuming anything. I want to know where they didn't look when they were searching for Samuel, that way we can narrow the field." He unlocked the car and stopped, watching her join him. "Assuming it goes head, the obbo starts in," he glanced at his watch, "less than an hour, so this is just a dash for information. In fact, if you didn't have such a rapport with Eleanor Roxon, you wouldn't be coming at all."

"You certainly know how make a person feel special." Millie muttered, getting into the car.

Max followed. "I'm just putting it out there." Without looking at her, he started up the car.

*

"Officers?" Andrea frowned as she opened the door to Millie and Max. "Is something wrong?"

Millie gave her a bright smile, an attempt to put the woman at ease, as Max replied. "No Ms. Roxon, we were just hoping to talk to you about your son."

"My son? Samuel? Have you found him?"

Max shook his head. "No, we haven't. Can we come in?" She nodded and stepped aside. Max went in first as Millie tailed, having caught sight of Eleanor watching them from the top of the stairs. She gave Millie a wave and the PC returned it warmly. Max must have seen the exchange because he took a step towards her as Ms. Roxon rushed past them muttering something about tea. "Go talk to Eleanor, see if she knows anything." Millie gave a small nod and headed upstairs as Max went back to the kitchen to calm a now rather agitated Andrea Roxon.

Millie met Eleanor on the landing, the teen curled up in a quiet corner with a Macbook on her lap. She glanced up at Millie with a smile and Millie took a seat next to her, leaning against the wall. "University work?"

Ellie grinned. "Not exactly." She moved the laptop to show Millie. "I'm writing a book. A big action-adventure style." She clicked save on the word file and snapped the computer shut, putting it down beside her. "I heard DS Carter mention Sam. Is that why you're here? Why you had that photo?"

Millie nodded. "Yes." She shifted, getting comfortable, then turned to Eleanor. "Ellie, when we found your uncle's drugs in your room," Ellie hung her head in shame as Millie continued. "Well, someone else had been in there. It was the young man in the green hoodie. The man you identified as your brother."

Eleanor looked up quickly. "Sam was here?" She thumbed back to her room. "He was in my room?"

"Yes, we think so. Now, we need to find your brother because he knew about the drugs. We believe he was trying to take them. Protect you maybe?"

*

"We believe he was taking the drugs from your daughter's room. Is there the possibility he may be working for your brother-in-law?" Max asked, placing his tea down on the coffee table as he and Ms. Roxon took a seat in the small living room.

"There's no way. He never liked Craig, never trusted him." Andrea frowned. "I don't know why he'd be here. Last we heard he'd changed his name and moved home."

*

"Where's home?" Millie asked as Ellie frowned again into her knees.

"Manchester. We came down here from Manchester about 10 years ago. Dad's business brought us down."

*

"David's a plumber. He opened up a business back home but then expanded to London. After the Manchester arm went under we moved down here, Craig and Hayleigh came with us, a change of scenery they said. That was when they set up that place." Andrea muttered the last line in disgust. "At first it was okay, we enjoyed the change of pace, but then our house was broken into and everything was taken from us. I lashed out at David for bringing us down here, but we couldn't move back because by that time the kids were getting into high school."

*

"They started fighting about everything. Sam and I would just sit up here for hours and listen, wondering when it would stop. I was only 12, it was hard. Then, a year later, dad packed up and moved out. They both said it was for the best but Sam disagreed. That was when he changed, became Bradley."

"Bradley?" Millie frowned.

Ellie nodded. "It was the name we gave him when he was in one of his moods. Then, one day in August, he just wasn't around anymore. He'd packed up everything he had and left. He became Bradley for good."

*

"Did you search for him?"

Andrea looked up. "Did I search for him? What kind of question is that DS Carter? He was my son, he was only 15 when he left, of course I searched for him!" Her voice rose and Max heard movement upstairs. Her raised voice had drawn the attention of Eleanor and Millie. "He was my son and I drove him away with my fighting over nothing…"

"Mum, are you okay?" Eleanor appeared at the doorway, Millie behind her. Millie gave Max a judgemental look that simply said 'making people cry again?' then pushed Eleanor to go to her mother. As Andrea accepted Eleanor's hug, Max stood.

"I'm sorry to have distressed you Ms. Roxon. We'll let ourselves out." He waved at Millie and she turned away, pulling open the front door.

As Millie shut the door behind her she spoke. "Is that how you always talk to vulnerable women about their long-lost sons? Or just the ones affiliated with drug dealers."

Max stopped. "What do you mean by that?" He frowned.

"Nothing." Millie walked away, towards the stairs. Max frowned after her for a second then followed.

"Look Constable," he stressed the 'Constable' like it was an insult. "Whatever you think of my methods, that family know more about Craig Bolt's business than they are letting on."

"And the fact that they've been used, chased into hospital, tormented by your tactless line of questioning and been reminded they drove their son away doesn't matter?" Millie stopped, reaching the car.

"That's not the issue…"

"No, the issue is your ability to connect with people. Emotions scare you, don't they DS Carter?"

He frowned at her. "Get in the car."

She just shrugged, looking innocent. "I'm just putting it out there…" she mocked before dropping out of sight as she got in. With a frown at the roof of the car, Max joined her.


	15. Will

_Chapter Fifteen;  
_Will

Will sensed Stevie leave before glancing back to confirm it. As the blue car rounded the corner, Will turned his attention back to the bus bay before him where the tourists were beginning to get on under the watchful eye of a broad-smiling Kowalski. Will frowned at him then slid around to the front entrance where the front office lay empty, the secretary he'd seen earlier having disappeared. Will consulted a small list of upcoming tours on the counter and saw the tour bus assembling out the back was due to leave in ten minutes. He looked to a small biography beside it, information on the company's 'trusting tour leader' Nikolai Kowalski. Will scanned it half-heartedly before turning his attention back to the front of the office where a small group of tourists had turned up. The bus they'd come in was making some strange noises and looked about ready to die on them, but the tourists getting off didn't look too fazed, just grinning up at the doors of the tour bus company. Out of the front of the bus came a rather flustered young man who pushed through the crowd and into the front office.

"Hi, Eric O'Malley." He held out a hand to Will and the confused TDC shook it. Then Will realized he was holding a clipboard and was just beside the front desk. O'Malley was assuming Will worked here. "I know we're a bit early but I need your help, the bus has given up on me and I'll need to take it down to the garage down the road. When does the tour leave?"

"Ten minutes, but I d…"

O'Malley cut him off. "Oh yeah, sorry, you need this." He withdrew a payment slip from his pocket and handed it to Will as he put the clipboard he'd just picked up back down on the counter. "I just need five minutes, can you take care of these guys?" Will nodded slowly. "Fantastic, thanks. I didn't catch your name."

"Will."

"Great, thanks Will. I'll be five minutes max." O'Malley rushed off out of the office and to the tourists. Will watched as O'Malley spoke to them, motioning back to Will. A few of them waved and Will returned the waves slowly, unsure exactly what he'd just got himself in to. Then, with one last point back into the office, O'Malley jumped back into the small bus and chugged off. Will smiled at the group as they came inside, giving them another wave.

"Hi guys, over here." He motioned them inside and they came in. "Everyone here?" He looked at their faces and realised they had no idea what he was saying, but they seemed to listen to him anyway and came inside as one. There were only about 12 of them, but Will felt terribly outnumbered, especially when a voice came from behind him and Will froze, recognizing it.

"Konichiwa." The group grinned, many returning the greeting, and Will realized he was looking at a Japanese tour group – the group the American pair had mentioned earlier. "Mister O'Malley?" Will looked up as Nikolai Kowalski extended his hand. "Great to meet you. Nikolai Kowalski, part-owner and your tour guide for today. I'm so glad you're here early, we'll set off straightaway." He shook Will's hand and took the payment slip right out of his hand. He looked at the others and spoke to them in Japanese. The group gave a cheer and clapped as Kowalski motioned them through to the bus bay. Kowalski stuck with Will. "I'm so glad you chose our tour company Mr. O'Malley. We're the best tour company in East London and we have exclusive access to many of the best spots on this side of the Thames. As is covered in the brochure, we'll be passing through Piccadilly and down to the London Eye, the perfect place for photos." He paused and motioned for the tourists to keep moving. "We discussed the changes to the tour right? Just to be sure?" Will nodded silently, keeping his head low lest he be recognized. "Great. And as I mentioned on the phone, the changes will not cost you any extra and some fantastic photo opportunities will open up to you. Afternoon tea is included at four, then a quick jump across the Tower Bridge to get a better look of Buckingham Palace." Kowalski kept walking. "Like I said, we're the best tour company on this side of London and I'm so glad you decided to tour with us today." They reached the bus bay. "Now, I don't want to make you redundant, but I do know a bit of Japanese myself and would be happy to just let you sit back and enjoy the sights and stories for this tour."

Will nodded. "Great."

"You can get back to your translator job as soon as we get off the bus, but we're all about enjoying ourselves here, it's the company motto pretty much." Kowalski tipped his head. "You don't mind, do you Mr. O'Malley?" Will shook his head. "Fantastic." He ushered Will on board and all Will could do was sit down as the driver started up the bus and Kowalski stood before them.

"Konichiwa, Good Afternoon everyone. I'm Nikolai Kowalski and I want to welcome you all to Kowalski-Hunt Tours, the best tour company this side of the Thames, if we say so ourselves." He chuckled and Will turned towards the window, watching as the bus moved out of the bay and out onto the street, scanning for the blue Vauxhall. He didn't see it. "If I can ask for all mobile phones to be switched off, they interfere with my sense of humour." He grinned and held up his phone, turning it off to show. A few of the tourists followed suit, but Will kept his on just in case. "Fantastic. Okay, now, as they say, let's get this show on the road!"


	16. Benjamin

_Chapter Sixteen;  
_Benjamin

Stuart glanced up from the radio as Max and Millie re-entered. Noticing the fact that Max was keeping his distance from the PC, Stuart smothered a smile and motioned to the radio. "I'm on with Stevie now. The tour bus just stopped over at the London Eye and they all got off for a ride. But they look on schedule to reach the dock by three if they keep the pace up. They rushed through Piccadilly like a run-away train. I think they left skid marks on the other tourists." He chuckled. "How were the Roxons?"

"DS Carter made them cry." Millie muttered as she walked past, receiving a glare from the Detective Sergeant.

"Helpful. Apparently Samuel changed his name when he left home. Ms. Roxon also managed to give me a list of Sam's friends, and a few other people he may still be in contact with." He withdrew a few pieces of folded-up paper from his pocket and held them out to Millie. She snatched them off him without even a glance in his direction and returned to Banksy's desk to start the calls.

Stuart looked away with a grin then, hiding it, turned back to Max holding out a photo. "I spoke to the DI and he's adamant we need a statement to the fact Kowalski is Brecht, so, here's a photo of Kowalski."

Max glanced at it. "Holman?"

Stuart nodded then tipped his head towards Millie who was now smiling through a rather upbeat phone conversation. "I'm sure she can make him talk."

Max folded up the picture and shoved it in his back pocket. "I'd rather make him cry."

"May I ask?"

"Don't." With that Max turned and stalked from the room. Stuart glanced at Millie who had been watching Max go and she caught his eye with a grin then went back to her conversation. Stuart returned his attention to the radio with a shake of his head.

*

As Max pulled up outside the Harley Club he only barely registered the Panda just further down the road as he extracted the photo of Kowalski and shook it out of it's fold. Pushing open the Harley Club doors like he owned the place, his eyes fell on PC Valentine and PC Roberts restraining a man as he yelled at Benjamin Holman who stood behind his counter, glaring down the young man. Max went to the PCs. "What's going on?"

"I came back and this dumb kid was just trashing my place. I don't even know him." Ben Holman protested, waving his hand behind him to the trashed counter where glass sat and alcohol dripped to the ground. "I want him charged. He's cost me thousands."

"Calm down Mr. Holman, we'll get your side of the story soon." Roger looked at Max. "We arrived twenty minutes ago and this bloke," he motioned to the kid who was squirming in Nate's grasp but had stopped yelling obscenities at the club owner. "He was upturning the tables. Mr. Holman was behind the bar in pretty much the same state he's in now. Said the kid turned up about five minutes before we did and just started breaking things without explanation."

"Got a name?"

"No, the only things he's said haven't been for public approval." Roger gave a smile and went to speak to Holman as Max went to the kid.

"Name." The kid gave him a blank look then turned his attention back to Holman, glaring. "What's your name?" The kid didn't answer so Max motioned for Nate to search him. The kid didn't protest as Nate withdrew from his back pocket a small wallet. He handed it to the DS who flipped it open. Inside was a small amount of Euros and a Belgian ID Card. Max glanced at Nate. "Andrei." The boy looked up and Max nodded. "He's Belgian."

"You don't happen to know any Belgian by chance sarge?" Nate grinned.

Max shook his head. "It's French, but no, no luck this time. Get him down to the station and call a translator for French and Flemish. And a social worker." He handed Nate the wallet. "He's only 15." As Nate led the boy away Max went over to Ben Holman who was relating the details to Roger. Max took over and Roger left. "You don't know him?"

Holman shook his head. "I have no idea who he is. He's just a dumb kid, like I said."

"Do 'dumb kids' often come into your licensed premises and smash your belongings Mr. Holman?" Max asked.

Holman didn't reply. "Look, give me an hour and I'll be down at your station to make a proper statement." His hand slid across a puddle of spilt vodka. "I don't care who he is or why he's done this, but he's paying for it."

"His name's Andrei Yanletti. That name ring a bell to you?" Max slipped his notebook back into his jacket pocket.

Holman shook his head, still analysing the damage. "I don't know him and I don't want to see him again, okay? Now, can I focus on my club?"

"Of course." Max turned away to leave before he stopped and held up the picture he'd brought with him. "One last thing Mr. Holman." Holman looked up quickly. "This man is…"

"That's Nikolai Brecht." He returned, looking back at his damage.

"Thank you." Shoving the photo back in his pocket, Max left the ruined club.


	17. Manson

_Chapter Seventeen;  
_Manson

DI Manson returned to the station about half past two to find Stuart on the radio to Stevie and Millie printing out a map and a few photos of the dockyards where Bolt was set to make his stop-off. The dock, one of the smaller ones in the area, backed onto a shipping yard, a yard dotted with discarded shipping crates. It hadn't been hard for the team to work out that this was where Bolt planned to dump the women so they'd stay out of sight for a while, at least until the expected heat died down.

The team were still at a loss for how he was getting them into the country in the first place, but that came second to catching Bolt. If they could get him with the women that was all they'd need to chase up every road he'd walked down, every phone call he'd made and every connection he had. Once they had Bolt, Neil was certain, everything else would fall into place.

Of course, with Bolt having dropped off the radar entirely for the whole day, not seen since their first tip-off that Bolt was back in Sun Hill when PC Brown and PC Gayle had stopped him for a broken taillight on his blue Vauxhall, things were harder. That had been at 9am, but it had felt like years ago now. Since then Neil had been left with a long report on why David Bolt was in hospital, more than one assurance by Stuart that two of his team were going to make life difficult, Will disobeying requests to get out of the tour bus company and the revelation that Hayleigh Bolt was playing them all for fools. He wondered what would be next and whether any of this would surprise him anymore.

"What's happening?" He asked the room, waiting from an answer from no one in particular.

PC Brown made to answer, but Stuart cut her off. "Stevie's on the tour bus now and it's headed down to the docks." He motioned to Millie's arrangement of photos on the whiteboard and the PC held up a photo like a game show host's assistant before turning and sticking it back on the whiteboard again. "Will has dropped off the face of the planet despite being called 100 times." He waved his phone to address the issue. "Bolt's still disappeared, uniform are watching Mrs. Bolt but no movement yet, and Max went down to the Harley Club to get that confirmation from Holman that Kowalski is Brecht. He should be back by now but, you know, it's Max." Stuart shrugged.

Neil walked over to the whiteboards and watched Millie label the last of the images. "Okay, so you're assuming I'm going to give this obbo the go-ahead Stuart." He spoke to the board more than the DS and Millie glanced at him, the whiteboard marker in her hand held suspended in mid-air as she listened to the DI. "But we still haven't got any confirmation yet that Brecht is in any way involved in this whole thing."

Stuart glanced at the DI with a frown. "But Guv, even if he isn't, surely he's suspicious enough as is. Dragging a whole tour bus down to the same docks which we have under watch because a good source told us something was going on there? Even without Bolt, this could be a big haul."

Neil glanced at the picture of Kowalski on the whiteboard beside him. "Okay. PC Brown, can you get down to Sgt Stone and see if he can spare us any more uniform. We need all the help we can get on this one." Millie nodded and Neil turned to Stuart. "You better have something here Turner." Stuart just gave a grin.

As Millie left CID she ran into Max coming in the doors. He stopped at the sight of her and held the swinging door open. She gave him a small nod and left, hurrying downstairs, as Max pulled the photo of Kowalski from his pocket and shook it out flat. "Holman confirmed, it's Brecht." He waved another piece of paper, a statement to the fact it seemed. "I've just been downstairs with PCs Valentine and Roberts, they've pulled in a kid." The DI took the second piece of paper finding it wasn't a statement but an account of an incident at the Harley Club. "They were called out to the Club where this boy, an Andrei Yanletti, was giving the place his very own once-over." He tossed the photo of Brecht back onto his desk. "But Holman's too busy to make a statement right now and the boy won't talk."

"Forget that. Seriously, who doesn't want to give Holman a piece of his mind, the guy is a prig. We've got the go ahead for the obbo." Stuart grinned like a child who'd just been handed a lollipop.

"Meeting in 5 minutes." Neil said before walking back to his office.

"Where's Fletcher?" Max asked, glancing up at Stuart as he put the report about Yanletti and Holman in a pile on his desk. "Still MIA?"

"Yeah. Though maybe he's avoiding Stevie's phone calls. She does not take well to being ignored." He raised his eyebrows with a grin as he spoke then turned his attention to the door as PC Brown re-entered the room. She glanced at DS' then went to the DI's office. Stuart and Max slipped in closer to listen.

"Guv, Sgt Stone says unless he takes PC Archer and PC Sloane off the Bolt house, he can only spare us Be… PC Gayle." She added, unsure Neil knew Ben as well as she did. It seemed he did though.

"Okay, Ben will have to do, we need those two on the Bolt house just in case." Millie nodded and left again. Neil looked up at the figures in the doorway. "Okay. Ready?" They nodded and Neil stood up. "Alright." Straightening his jacket, Neil left the office. Stuart shot Max a grin and followed the DI. Max just shoved his hands in his pockets and joined them slowly.


	18. Stevie

_Chapter Eighteen;  
_Stevie

Will glanced at the phone and saw Stevie's name come up. He grinned at Kowalski. "I better take this." Kowalski nodded and continued his talk to the tourists as Will moved to the back of the bus and answered the call. "Stevie?"

"Will, get down to the docks, the obbo has the go-ahead. The tour is headed for the docks, just like you said."

"Oh, I know." Will frowned.

"What?" Stevie paused for a minute then it seemed something dawned on her. "Oh god, you're on the bus aren't you?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean 'yes and no'?" Stevie exclaimed.

"Well, technically I'M not on it; Eric O'Malley is."

"Only you could get into this situation Will." Stevie sighed. "Okay, um, Brecht hasn't recognized you?"

"I'm pretty sure he hasn't."

"I'll give DS Turner a call and see what he thinks. Just keep your head down."

"Oh Stevie, before you go, do you know any Japanese?"

"What?"

Will glanced up at the tourists. "Well, see, it turns out Eric O'Malley is the translator for a Japanese tour group." Stevie snorted. "Don't laugh. The only Japanese I know is what I picked up from a sushi bar."

"Okay, avoid speaking Japanese, unless you're asked about miso soup. I'll get back to you." Stevie hung up and Will stood, shoving his phone in his pocket, thankful that soon they would be at the obbo and he could get away from this very uncomfortable situation.

*

Stuart put down the phone and re-entered the room where the DI was laying out the last of the details to the small group. "So, Will's on the bus."

"What?" Both PC Ben Gayle and Millie said at the same time.

"How did he manage that? I thought you said he was chasing up paperwork." Neil gave Stuart a look.

"I thought he was too but apparently he decided a bit of undercover work was needed." Stuart took a seat and glanced at the whiteboard. "So, where do you want me Guv?"

"You're with me on the docks." He tapped the whiteboard. "PCs Gayle and Brown will watch the entrance to the docks on Riverview Lane and radio through when the bus enters the docks. They'll then block that exit when the obbo starts, cover the lane and the entrance to the shipping yard." Ben nodded. "Stuart, you're with me on the docks themselves. We're watching the entrance to make sure that Brecht is picked up as soon as he gets off the bus. Get on to Stevie and tell her we'll need Will to take control of the tour bus as soon as Brecht gets off. The last thing we need is Brecht taking the bus passengers into a hostage situation." He turned to Max. "DS Carter, you'll be on the docks themselves, watching the water. We're assuming the boat from our intel is still coming in at quarter-past three and we need you there to catch it as soon as it gets in sight. Water Police will get onto it if the driver makes a run." Max nodded.

"And Stevie?"

"Tell her to meet us on the docks." Neil turned to the small group. "Okay, are we ready?" The team nodded almost as one. "Great. Well, then, good luck and I'll see you all out there." The group broke apart, the PCs heading off together and Max following them with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Stuart came to the DI. "You think Brecht recognized Fletcher?"

The DI frowned. "I hope not, but I think we've covered our bases enough to ensure that if he has then he won't get away." Neil put down the whiteboard marker. "If anything goes wrong with Brecht, get back to uniform and help them cover the shipping yard. The last thing we need is to lose him in that yard and find out later he was just hiding in a discarded crate." Neil put his hands in his pockets and glanced back at the plans. Stuart glanced at them too then looked back to his DI. "Okay, let's go."


	19. O'Malley

_Chapter Nineteen;  
_O'Malley

The fresh air and sea smell drifting off the Thames refreshed Millie and she awoke from the half-asleep state she'd been in for a while now. Since leaving the Roxon residence she'd been left back at the station as the others prepared for the obbo, purposely left behind by a bad-tempered DS Carter who clearly hadn't taken too well to her backchat. She growled under her breath at the thought of him and it seemed the man seated next to her in the worn-out white Vauxhall guessed the subject.

"Enjoying the CID work?" Ben teased, now also sporting civvies for the job.

Millie gave him a smile. "Don't start."

"No, I get it, your problem is with the people. Not a fan of CID?"

"No, that's not it at all." She frowned. "DS Turner is friendly and a fantastic detective, Will is intuitive, Stevie is brilliant and fun, and DS Carter is…" she paused, looking away. "Well, he's good at his job."

"But…" Ben prompted with a mischievous grin.

"But… the most infuriating man I have ever had the misfortune of working with."

Ben laughed. "Oooh, trouble in paradise."

"Well, first, find me a paradise that has ever included under-age prostitutes, 19-year-old girls used as drug mules by their uncles, and estranged sons – then sure, trouble in paradise." She leant on the car windowsill, eyeing the passenger seat's rear vision mirror. "Come on Brecht. Move it."

"Ready to go home?"

"I'm ready to arrest the bad guy and get back to uniform as soon as possible."

"Awww Mill, you miss us."

Millie laughed. "I always miss you Ben." She tapped his cheek affectionately with a grin.

*

DI Manson shut his phone and looked at Stuart. "TIU." He explained. "They're still tracing Brecht's phone. They say he's close." Stuart grinned. "And that someone just sent a text to him, but because his phone is turned off, he didn't get the message."

"Bolt. He must be making sure Brecht will get here in time." He looked like the cat who'd got the cream, but Neil made to spoil his joy.

"We haven't got either of them yet." He reminded the Sergeant.

Stuart just shrugged. "We will. I have no doubt." But Neil did, had since they'd realised Hayleigh was playing them. Who else was in on this little game? The whole thing hadn't been easy, but for a while now they'd seemed to be one step behind. Except for the drugs find in Eleanor Roxon's home, everything they did seemed so pre-planned. Neil had no doubts the drugs hadn't been part of the plan but everything else smelt like Bolt's handiwork. He, unlike Stuart, wasn't so sure this obbo would end the way they planned – but as long as they could get Bolt back to the station and grill him on the drugs allegations it would not be in vain.

*

Max folded his arms and pressed himself against the wall, flattening himself so he couldn't be differentiated from the dark brick behind him. These parts of the docks, despite being in daylight for at least another hour, were dark and he knew he couldn't be spotted from a distance by any incoming boats – namely just one. Their intelligence told them Bolt's little vessel, a craft little bigger than a small cruiser, had been spotted by Water Police a few minutes earlier and they'd received word he was headed in their direction. Max stood alone, the way he worked best, watching the water with his usual frown and brow furrowed in the sunlight blinding him off the water.

Usually, in this position, he'd be running over the questions in his head for the upcoming interview. Mentally picturing drilling the suspect into an admission of guilt. It was one of the few things that made Max sit back and genuinely smile. Not the smirk he saved for every other situation, but a smile. Satisfaction at a job well done. Well, that and the memory of Will Fletcher's middle name. That almost made him laugh out loud. But this time, his eyes scanning the water for Bolt and his harem of illegals, his thoughts strayed from the prize to a certain PC who had taken to backchat. He hadn't expected anything of the like from her, accustomed to little more than questioning his motives, but she'd suddenly become spiteful. Almost as witty as well, himself. In fact he'd been so shocked by the new face of Millie Brown that he'd purposely tried to distance himself from her for the obbo, suggesting to the DI that uniform help Will Fletcher cover the shipping yard lest Brecht try and make his escape. The DI had given him a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Max had been too preoccupied with the fact he'd let her under his skin. Nothing got to Max Carter, he made himself that way (even more so since the Jankowski business) but here he was, requesting his distance from her. To be honest, it worried him a little bit. Sure he'd taken to avoiding her like the plague after the Mick and Si Jones business. But that had been different. Back then she'd made it pretty obvious she wasn't his new 'best friend' and he'd made out to himself that he was avoiding her because that was what she wanted. But she'd followed up on the Bolt case knowing full well that Max would be on the case as well. She wasn't avoiding him. It blew his theory out of the water.

So why was he avoiding her?

**A/N: **Sorry for the lack of updates. My Internet at home went offline for a while *beats it* and then when it returned I got a little preoccupied by screen caps from Smash and Grab *is dead from squee* at .uk. Airs here August 25th (lol, my best-friend's birthday party just got dumped! He he). Anyway, this chapter is for my aforementioned best friend who is currently living it up in London. Lucky mole. Ironically my friend Brendan asked her to try and find the set of The Bill. I wonder if it's too late to put in a request for my present from London to be Christopher Fox? Mmmmmmax…

**Charlie_Alice: **Welcome to the storyline and I hope you're enjoying it. I'm trying to make it more Millie/Max than anyone else, but at the same time keep up the storyline – the problem with these two is that any pairing involves taking them just a little out of character (which is extra hard seeing as all of Max's charm comes from his anti-socialness and Millie's comes from the fact she's a weepy little wimp. Lol) and I want to keep them as realistic as possible. I assure you, Mallie will come, but let's drag this out as much as possible first! ;)

**Megan: **Oh yeah, I knew I'd get you in the end. Lol. So can I hold my breath for a SoloStarr Mallie story soon? Yes? Please? :)


	20. Fletcher

_Chapter Twenty;  
_Fletcher

"Here she comes." Millie said into the radio, sliding further down into her seat as the bus rumbled past, followed barely a minute later by CID's blue Vauxhall with Stevie at the wheel. "You'll see him in a second sarge."

Stuart glanced up at the bus as it turned at the end of the road, pulling up against the curb. Stevie's car drove past it, continuing past Stuart and Neil then up a side street. Stuart and Neil watched from a distance as the bus door opened and a large man in a dark blue coat got out, talking into his phone. Following him was a white couple then a small group of Japanese tourists, smiling out at the river before them. The man in the dark coat put the phone down for a second and motioned for the tourists to follow a wooden walkway that skirted the river down to a small lookout. From there you could see Tower Bridge, clearly the tourist attraction Brecht was using to encourage the change in route. Neil frowned at the last two figures off the bus – Will and another large man, he guessed the bus driver. Will looked around, chatting to the driver, as the driver motioned them all to the walkway. Brecht, meanwhile, seemed to be wandering in the opposite direction.

Neil looked at Will. "Stay with him." Just as he said that, Will tapped the driver on the shoulder and motioned back to the bus, pretending he'd forgotten something. The driver smiled and waved him back and Will took off as the driver and the others headed down the wooden walkway. "Good man." Neil glanced at the tourists as the walkway dropped below the road, out of sight. "Now we wait."

*

"Oh yes, I love it when they're predictable." Ben watched Brecht, chatting away on his phone without a care, walk into the shipping yard. Not long after him came Will, following a decent distance. He paused at the gate, motioning to Ben and Millie. The PCs hopped out of their car as Will continued on into the yard, his eyes trained on Brecht. Ben grinned. "Looks like I'll be back in the cafeteria eating chips before four."

"Don't count your chickens…" Millie started, walking slowly to the gate. She looked up at the docks, unable to see Max from here, then to the CID car further down the road. Stuart had just stepped out of the car, watching them with his arms crossed. "Anyway, this is just one of them. We have to get Bolt too, remember?"

Ben grinned and started across the entrance, checking first to ensure Brecht was out of sight before he darted across. "This newfound pessimism Mills? I don't like it!" He dashed off before she could do or say anything, just frowning at him as she stood behind the gates, waiting for Will to emerge with the first half of their arrests.

*

"I've got a visual on Bolt's boat Guv." Max's voice came over the radio and Neil looked up at Stuart as Stevie joined the men.

Neil looked to Stuart. "Head down there and help Max." Stuart nodded and started to leave when the tourists emerged from the wooden walkway. Neil frowned at them, noticing something was wrong. "Stevie, go be a friendly local."

Stevie nodded and walked off as Stuart started to the docks. Neil watched them both from the car. Stevie smiled at the couple leading the group. "Hi guys, you're from the tour bus right? Here with Mr. Kowalski?"

"Are you from the bus company?" The American man growled.

"Yeah, I am." Stevie smiled, playing along. "I just came to make sure you we…"

The man cut her off. "Well good, I'll complain to you then. What kind of tour bus company dumps on us a whole bunch of Japanese tourists? Where's Kowalski? Even that Jacobs bloke ran off as soon as we got to the lookout."

Stevie frowned. "What Ja…" then she realized who they meant and grabbed her radio. "Will, have you got Brecht?"

*

Will had been tailing Brecht past a few crates, the man walking purposely through the containers, when Stevie's voice came through. "Will, have you got Brecht?"

"Yeah. He's on his phone, talking far too loudly for his own good." He whispered back into the radio.

"And you're sure it's Brecht?"

Will frowned. "Of course I'm sure, I can see his face. He keeps looking behind him." Will ducked down behind a container and frowned at the radio. "What's this about?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Stevie went off for a minute and he heard over the radio Stuart mention Max was fine alone and he was headed back to the tour bus. Will frowned at the radio again then stood, glancing back at the spot Brecht had just been. But he was gone.

Will panicked. "Stevie, I've lost him."

Stevie's voice came over the radio again. "We've got the exit covered, keep looking. He can't have gone far." She paused. "The DI and Stuart have the tourists, they're taking them back to the bus. I'll be at the gates shortly if you need any h…"

Then Will saw him, his collar pulled high against the wind off the river, still chatting into his phone. He spoke over Stevie. "False alarm, I've got him."

"Great, do you want me to send in uniform t…"

Stevie's voice was cut off by a new voice on the radio. It was Max. Bolt's vessel had started toward the docks. "No, he's not going anywhere. Send uniform to help Max, I've got him covered." Will crouched down watching Brecht, his back still turned to Will, chatting away inanely, not noticing the TDC by the crates. Stevie radioed back her confirmation uniform had gone, asking him if he were certain he didn't need her help. "I'm fine. He's still talking over by this crate by the river. I'm not sure but I thought I heard him mention waiting for someone."

"Who could he be waiting for? Water Police were sure they saw Bolt on the boat." Stevie's voice came through.

"I don't know. Someone else. Who says there isn't someone else involved in this?" Will stood as the heavyset man started wandering away. "Alright, he's on the move again."

"Stop waiting and bring him in." Stevie growled. "Or I'll join you and do it myself."

"Fine, fine." Will pocketed the radio and jogged out into the open. "Mr. Brecht?"

Brecht stopped, hanging up the phone and pocketing it, before turning to face Will as the TDC caught up to him, reaching for his jacket collar to restrain him. But he grabbed the coat more out of shock than anything else. It wasn't Brecht.

The man in the coat, Will realized with surprise, was the tour bus' driver. The driver just smiled. "Lost someone Mr. O'Malley?"

Will grabbed his radio. "Guv?" Will's shoulders slumped as he removed his eyes from the beaming driver. "I've lost Brecht."


	21. Sahara

**Disclaimer: **Don't own 'The Bill'

**A/N: **Chapter for little miss Ebony Mai who will be a Max/Millie fan before she even knows what TV is. Mwah ha ha. That's right Krissie, I'm corrupting your baby. Congrats again. I hope she's a nice, quiet little thing who'll sleep through the night... well, you can dream. Lol.

_Chapter Twenty-One;  
_Sahara

Max frowned at the PCs as they joined him, looking to Millie. "I thought you were helping Will catch Brecht?"

"He didn't want us there. Sent us to help you." She explained.

Max shrugged. "He's too stubborn for his own good." He muttered to himself before looking up at them. "Well I think Bolt's seen us." He motioned out to the river where Bolt stood on the bow of his small boat waving at them cheerily. "So watch this space, I'm going to see how the others are doing." He started off back towards the bus as Millie glanced at Ben.

"Oh yeah, he can talk about stubborn." Millie grinned as Ben raised his eyebrows, then the pair looked back out at the boat coming toward them.

*

"He's what?" Stuart spluttered.

"He's lost him." DI Manson raised the radio to his mouth again. "Bring the driver in Will."

"On what?" Will's voice came through the radio and Stuart took his anger out on the tour bus by kicking it's wheel. This caused the large American man to come to the top of the stairs and look down on them with a frown. The policemen ignored him.

"Anything. Hindering a police investigation. Being a prat. I don't care what you bring him in for, just bring him in."

"Yes Guv." Will's radio went quiet as Neil looked at Stuart who was now leaning on the bus and glaring at the ground.

"Where were uniform?" He growled.

"Will sent them away, to help Max." Stuart kicked the tire again. "Damn."

*

Max returned two minutes later muttering something about Will being an idiot. Ben and Millie had heard through the radio what had happened, but Max was taking it to a rather personal level. Millie suspected he'd wanted both arrests for himself, frowned at him, then looked back at the boat just as it got close enough for them to hear Bolt's voice.

"Allo Guv'ner, what's all this then?" He grinned, putting on a stupid accent.

Max frowned at him. "Mister Bolt?"

"In the flesh. What's this then? A welcoming party?"

"Not exactly. Can you turn off your engine please and bring all your passengers to the front of the boat?"

Bolt grinned. "My pleasure."

A few minutes later the small cruiser had pulled up alongside and tied up. Max and the PCs boarded the boat, assessing the small group of passengers at the front. There were a handful of young women, Bolt's driver a scruffy-looking young man, and the smug Bolt. As soon as they boarded and Max had the boat under his control, he turned to the PCs.

"PC Brown, PC Gayle, cuff Mr. Bolt."

Craig just smiled up at them, glancing at Max's extended warrant card. "You make it sound like you've been looking for me DS Carter." He grinned as Ben ordered him to raise his arms straight out in front of him. Bolt complied and Ben slapped on the cuffs. "I hope you haven't been searching too hard."

"Craig Bolt, you're under arrest for the illegal importation of foreign citizens, you d…"

Craig cut him off. "Illegal? DS Carter, I was simply taking these women for a cruise. They're all English citizens, I assure you." Max stopped, eyeing the women again and realizing he'd seen them before. They were all women from Bolt's registered brothel. Bolt read the expression. "I'm sorry to disappoint you sergeant."

"Fine, then." Max looked at Millie. "The drugs." Millie nodded. "Put him in the car." Uniform dragged him off. Max looked at DC Moss as she joined him. "He's right, all these women, we've seen them all before. They're all registered. Their files have been sitting on my desk for the last seven hours!" He rubbed his left temple and forehead with his left hand then dropped it angrily. "So where the hell has he put the girls?" Stevie shrugged. "Fantastic." Shoving his hands in his pockets he turned away. Stevie just watched him go with a sigh.


	22. Neil

_Chapter Twenty-Two;  
_Neil

"The cocky son of a gun even asked the women to bring their passports with them." Stuart slapped the handful of passports down on the cruiser's small dining table.

"He knew we'd be here and he knew what we were looking for. Someone tipped him off."

"My bets are on Mrs. Bolt. She's been playing us from the beginning." Stuart growled as he passed another small slip of paper with Bolt's handwriting on it to the DI. This one said 'getting warmer'. He'd been leaving notes all over the ship. He'd known that they were coming all right. "We should've known."

"I've sent Stevie and Millie to go pick her up. If she knows anything, I have faith they'll get it out of her."

"Hopefully, because this place is so clean you can smell the antiseptic." Stuart growled as he came across the last note which read 'so hot it burns' stuck to the microwave. "I hate this man."

"So do I, but first we need to prove he's done anything wrong."

"Okay, so, it's all circumstantial at the moment but let's assume we can link this boat to Bolt, then link it with my tip-off, then we…" Stuart trailed off. "I have nothing Guv."

"We can use it to force a slip-up. Bolt wasn't taking a pleasure cruise this afternoon for nothing, which means he's got something to hide."

"So, what do we need?"

"Well what we really need is an answer to the question: who owns the Sahara?"

*

"So, what's this about drugs then?" They were halfway back to Sun Hill when Bolt spoke for the first time.

Max glanced sideways at the man. "You know what it's about."

"Okay, but, let's just pretend I don't."

"I'm sure you're aware that we can't talk about the case without your lawyer present Mr. Bolt." Max turned away from the suspect, catching a hint of a smile from PC Gayle as he drove back to the station.

"I'm aware, I just thought I'd ask." He grinned and looked out the window for a few seconds before glancing back at Max. "You're not going to find anything on me."

"You sound pretty certain about that."

"I'm 100% certain DS Carter, because I'm clean as a whistle."

Max ignored him. They already had the prints from the bags and just needed to match them with Bolt's prints when he got to the station for confirmation. Bolt's prints on file had already come back positive. PC Gayle spoke over Max's thoughts. "Before or after the clean out Mr. Bolt?"

Bolt laughed. "What would I clean out? My porn collection? Oooh, don't tell the missus."

Max thought of something. "You knew we were coming this afternoon. You were waiting for us." Bolt grinned a superior, smug grin. "Who told you?"

Bolt just raised his eyebrows and fell silent again. Max frowned at him until they reached Sun Hill and PC Gayle pulled him from the seat and through the station backyard into the custody area. Just as they took off the cuffs and allowed him to start emptying his pockets, Max's phone rang. Nodding at PC Gayle, he left them and headed back into the main part of the station to take the call.

"DS Max Carter." Max frowned into the phone as he listened to the voice at the other end. "Really? And you're certain?" He glanced through the doors back into the custody area where Bolt was now grinning at the custody sergeant as he was read his rights again. "Yeah, thanks." He hung up then dialled again. "Yeah, Guv, some bad news."

*

The front door opened after the first knock and the redheaded woman smiled from the doorway at the two Constables on her doorstep. "Yes?"

Stevie flicked her warrant card out. "DC Moss and PC Brown." Hayleigh nodded at Millie with a sly smile then looked back at Stevie as the detective continued. "We'd like you to come down to the station with us if possible Mrs. Bolt."

"Is there a problem?"

"Your husband has been arrested. We were hoping you would be able to help us with our inquiries."

Hayleigh laughed. "I know what that means DC Moss. It means you want me to help you incriminate my husband. I don't think I'll be coming down to help your 'inquiries' officers. Now, if you don't mind…" she made to close the door, but DC Moss stuck her foot in the doorway.

"Then we'll have to do this the hard way."

Hayleigh smiled. "As you wish officers." She stepped outside, holding her arms out in front of her. "Knock yourself out DC Moss."

"Hayleigh Bolt, I'm arresting you on suspicion of aiding the possession and supply of a Class A drug. You do not have to say anything, but any…"

Hayleigh cut her off as she was led away from the house, turning back to PC Brown who was still on the doorstep. "Lock up the house for me would you PC Brown? The keys are inside the door. Oh, and my lawyer's phone number is there too. You know, just in case." She winked as Stevie led her back to the car. With a frown, Millie picked up the keys and the small business card on the table inside the doorway, and then shutting the house up behind her, pocketed the keys and followed the others back to the car.

*

Neil flipped his phone shut and turned to Stuart who had stopped looking around the boat to listen in to the conversation. "That was Max. He just had a call about the drugs he and PC Brown found in the Roxon residence." Stuart nodded. "Turns out most of it is fake."

"What?"

"Most of the bags were talcum powder. Max suspects someone's switched them."

"Samuel Bolt?" Stuart suggested. Neil shrugged. "So, how much is actually Class A?"

"A little over a kilo." Neil replied and Stuart sat down heavily on one of the benches. The minute he sat down, however, he jumped right back up again. "What?"

Neil watched the DS lift up the cushion and look down at a well under the seat. Inside it was a small box and a handful of documents. Stuart picked up the box and opened it, but it was empty. He sighed. It had looked so much like the kind of box old hand guns were stored in. It yielded nothing though, and Stuart dropped it to the table, his attention turned to the papers. As he read them he smiled and held them up to the DI. "Guv, I think I can tell you who owns this boat now."


	23. Craig

_Chapter Twenty-Three;  
_Craig

After leaving Hayleigh Bolt to stew in a cell for a while, Stevie and Millie joined DS Turner and Max as they loitered outside the interview room, waiting for Bolt's lawyer to finish a 'private conversation with the client'. Stuart growled at his watch. "I reckon he's making us wait as long as possible on purpose."

"It wouldn't be the first time. Probably another ploy. He's been one step ahead the whole day." Stevie replied, raising her eyebrows.

Stuart growled. "One step? He's been 65."

"How'd the Sahara search go?"

"Oh yeah, I left something for you in custody. The boat's ownership papers were in the wheelhouse. Guess who owns it."

"Hayleigh." Stevie shook her head with a frown.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." He clapped his hands together causing DS Carter, who'd been staring at the roof with a frown and pout up until that stage, to look down at Stuart.

"How's Fletcher?" Max asked, directing his question at Stevie.

"Not great, he thinks he blew the whole thing by taking Brecht on his own."

"Yeah, well, so he should." Max said coldly, returning his gaze to a point just above their heads.

"I think he feels bad enough himself sarge, is there really any need to rub it in?" Millie spoke up, as usual disgusted by Max's lack of tact regarding the situation. She felt bad for Will; he thought he'd be alright on his own. He hadn't known about the driver. Anyway, who was Max to judge? It wasn't as if the cocky DS had never walked himself into a bad situation because he'd got opportunistic. "He made a mistake. He's only human."

Max lowered his eyes slowly to her, his frown deepening. Stuart and Stevie shared a look, returning their attention to the pair with interest. But before Max could reply, the interview room door opened and Bolt's lawyer stood there watching them. "Sergeants? My client is ready to tell you what he can." Max snapped his glare away from Millie and turned it on the lawyer as the suit walked back into the room.

"Good luck." Stevie smiled as they headed in. Stuart shot her a pair of raised eyebrows then shut the door on them. Stevie looked at Millie. "Come on PC with a death wish," Millie grinned. "Let's get a tea. Hayleigh can see how the other half live for a little longer."

*

Having spent the first five minutes of the interview dealing with cold smiles and 'no comment's from Bolt regarding the drugs, Stuart decided a different approach was needed if they had any chance of breaking the law-savvy crim. "We have phone records showing that you have been in contact with your niece recently." Bolt nodded. "Is there any reason for that?" He asked, having not let on exactly where the drugs allegation had come from earlier.

"She's my niece. Her father is an idiot. I guess she was just looking for a respectable father figure."

"So, as her 'respectable father figure'," Stuart commented, trying hard to keep the venom from his voice. "Did she ever mention money problems?" Bolt nodded. "And what was your advice?"

"I offered her money, but she's a proud young lady DS Turner."

"She didn't mention any easy ways to get money herself? Ask you any advice?"

"Like what DS Turner?" Bolt grinned. "Like how to sell drugs?" He leant back in his chair, watching the sergeants with a cold smile. "I don't do drugs sergeants. I don't do illegal trafficking either. Now," he glanced at his lawyer who was listening intently, prepared to break in lest Bolt say too much. "I don't pretend to be a pillar of the community officers, but I haven't done anything wrong." Max shot Bolt a disbelieving glare. "I've never done anything wrong." Bolt continued with a cheeky smile.

"If you've never done anything wrong Mr. Bolt, why are there allegations of assault hanging over you?"

"Is this relevant to the case sergeant? Because if it isn't I would like the question withdrawn." Bolt grinned as the lawyer looked at him. "You don't have to answer that Mr. Bolt."

"It's okay, I'll answer it." His eyes danced between Max and Stuart, finally stopping on Stuart. "My wife is in charge of the girls Detective Sergeant. You know, girls sticking together and all that."

Stuart leant forward. "You want to take your wife down with you? Because if you're saying she's in on all of this, that's what you'll be doing." He slapped a file down in front of Craig and flicked it open, revealing a mugshot of the redheaded woman they'd met earlier. "Hayleigh Bolt, née Spark, has a rap sheet a mile long."

Craig snorted with a soft smile. "That's my girl."

Max smacked the file. "Was she involved?"

"She? Not involved? Ha! She might appear innocent as pie but nothing like." The two detectives didn't even look like they believed him so he continued. "Look, I let my wife do what she wants with the girls. They're her girls. She told me to take them on a pleasure cruise this afternoon." He grinned. "Maybe because she knew you were sniffing around."

"Your wife is in charge of the girls?" Max clarified.

"That's what I said isn't it?" Bolt sneered, thinking he'd got one up on them.

Max just glanced at Stuart, but before he could say anything Bolt's lawyer spoke up. "If it would be possible to take a break. I have an important call to make at five."

Stuart nodded. "Yeah, I think we can organize that." Max leant back at Stuart spoke into the tape, smiling at Bolt the whole time. "Interview suspended at 16.43." Max flicked the tape to a stop. The lawyer stood, almost hurrying them to the door, just to ensure they didn't say anything to his client without him there. Max stood and took Bolt by the cuff, leading him past the lawyer and out into the hall. Stuart stood slowly and followed with just a hint of a smile.

*

Stuart met Stevie and Millie in the hall outside the interview rooms as Max led Bolt back to the cells. "You done already?" Stevie asked.

"Anything but. The lawyer has asked for a break, to take an important phone call. You starting your interview with Hayleigh soon?"

Stevie nodded, taking the folder Stuart held out to her, Hayleigh's rap sheet. "Yeah, why, what have you got for us?"

Stuart smiled. "Oh you'll like this one ladies. It's the world's best sell-out." Then the three of them started back to custody, listening to what Stuart had to say about Craig Bolt selling out his wife. And the Constables smiled. Bolt had just given them the perfect ammunition.


	24. Shore

_Chapter Twenty-Four;  
_Shore

"Oh check it, girl power!" Hayleigh grinned as DC Moss and PC Brown entered the interview room. "Are we gonna have a girl talk? Paint our nails? Oooh, boys." She giggled like a schoolgirl then changed quickly, leaning back in her chair with a cold glare on her face and crossing her arms. "No comment."

DC Moss ignored her and started the tape. "Interview with Hayleigh Jane Bolt. Present are Mrs. Bolt, her lawyer Robert Shore, DC Moss…"

"And PC Brown." Millie added, not taking her eyes off Hayleigh. The woman was cocky, cool and totally at ease with the situation. Millie hid a smile. She wasn't aware yet that across the hall right now her husband was selling her out.

"Now Mrs. Bolt, are you aware of why you're here?"

Hayleigh shrugged. "Some pathetic attempt to link my husband with a crime you can't solve?" She gave a big smile, looking very pleased with herself. Millie quickly grew to dislike the woman.

"Actually Mrs. Bolt, we've found a kilo of cocaine in your niece's possession and she claims you and your husband know quite a lot about it."

"We don't do drugs DC Moss. Only idiots and troubled street kids, like my niece, do it."

"Are you suggesting that your niece is some stupid little girl who deals?" Millie asked, shocked.

"If the shoe fits." Hayleigh shrugged. "Her father is an incompetent fool, her mother is too busy for anyone and her own brother skipped town to get away from them. The only one in the family that gives her any time is Craig, and this is how she repays him? So much for gratitude."

Millie smothered a growl as Stevie continued her questions. "What do you know about the drugs Mrs. Bolt? If you help us, it'll look better in court."

"I won't be going to court DC Moss, I haven't done anything wrong and neither has my husband."

"Right now your husband is across the hall in Interview Room 3 telling two of our sergeants that you are responsible for the mistreatment of some of the women at your premises." Millie spoke up, hiding a rather out-of-character smugness in her tone. She inwardly blamed too much time spent with the Sergeant of Smug, and lessened her glare. "Why would you help him if he's not keen to help you?"

Hayleigh's lawyer made to speak, but Hayleigh put up one hand and he fell silent. "I haven't been mistreating any of the girls. If I had, they would've made a statement and you'd be waving it in my face right now. As for my husband selling me out," she chuckled. "That doofus will say anything to draw attention away from himself. Do what I do officers and take everything he says with a grain of salt."

"Even a protest of innocence?" Millie pushed but Hayleigh didn't take the bait, just smiling back at the PC.

"The Sahara is registered in your name." Stevie continued, putting the registration papers they'd obtained from the boat down on the table. "Your husband has been using it lately, hasn't he?"

Hayleigh smiled. "Yes, he has. And your point?"

"My point, Mrs. Bolt, is that if we find any link to the drugs we found in your niece's room…"

"We've been over this DC Moss; Craig and I don't do drugs, don't deal with drugs or even understand the fascination with drugs."

"Drugs and prostitutes go hand-in-hand though, don't they Mrs. Bolt?" Millie spoke.

Hayleigh turned on her. "Do they PC Brown? Because I believe that's a stereotype and I don't really deal in those."

"Back to the Sahara…" Stevie continued, Hayleigh pulling her eyes and cold smile away from the PC. "Were you aware your husband had it this afternoon?"

"Yes, I was." Stevie nodded but Hayleigh just grinned. "He hasn't done anything wrong ladies and even if he did, try and prove that I knew what he was planning to do. Guilty knowledge, I'm sure you're aware of that term Constables." Millie frowned at the woman's knowledge of the rules. She'd been right from the start – Hayleigh Bolt knew the law and how to dance all over it. "Prove that my husband did anything wrong, then prove that I helped. Until you do that, I shall return to my earlier statement – no comment." She tipped her head a little and grinned.

For five more minutes Stevie tried more lines of questioning, but still Hayleigh just sat there, her head tipped and smiling at the officers. Eventually they gave up. "Interview terminated at 17.25." DC Moss flicked off the tape and nodded back at Robert Shore as the man turned to his client. Stevie and Millie left the room.

"She knows her stuff."

"I don't know why she even bothered bringing a lawyer." Stevie growled. DS Turner appeared on the other side of the doors and Stevie nodded him to join them. He joined them a few seconds later. "Tough as nails sarge."

"She didn't give up?" The women shook their heads. "Okay, not what I wanted to hear."

"We're not going to let them go are we?" Millie frowned.

"Not exactly. Bolt'll face court for the allegations and the circumstantial evidence, but we don't have enough to hold him. We're going to have to bail him."

"Great." Stevie sighed. They glanced back at the doors to custody, almost imagining the smug look on Bolt's face right now. But he was locked up in his cell, and were it up to CID that's where he'd stay. However luck and the law weren't on their side. Bolt was heading home. "How much is bail?"

"Enough, so he better stick to it. Without his cocaine money he may be losing out if he skips it." Stuart tried hard to make light of the situation, but he was struggling. In the end, however, he grinned. "So, who gets to tell the rest?"

Millie frowned. "Will'll be crushed. He wanted Bolt to give up Brecht."

Stevie nodded. "I'll tell him, make sure he doesn't cry." She gave a small smile and walked off.

Stuart grinned. "I call the DI. That leaves you to tell DS Carter."

Millie held up her hands. "Oh no, I SO did not sign up for that when I joined the team. I call the DI, no givesies-backsies." She grinned and turned on her heel, walking away from him.

"No fair! You can't call givesies-backsies!" Stuart called after her. Millie just shook her head and forced a smile, but beating Stuart to the DI was not enough to help her forget that they'd allowed Brecht and now the Bolts to get away. She sighed. She hadn't signed up for this either when she'd agreed to join the investigation team.


	25. Carter

_Chapter Twenty-Five;  
_Carter

"We have the prints on the bags that match Bolt and the testament of his niece, that might enough to put him away."

Max frowned. "He's going to get away again."

"No, he's not. He's on the bail his wife posted, from what I can see it's from a second mortgage on the house, so he skips off on us he can count on her kicking his ass." Stuart glanced at Stevie. "Not that anyone would object to a smacking from her." He raised his eyebrows and Stevie shook her head.

"He's on the radar and it gives us time to follow up the allegations. This isn't it for him, and we're still on Brecht." Neil continued, ignoring Stuart.

"Wherever the hell he is." Will muttered, frowning like a slapped puppy. Millie put a hand on his arm and he gave a wry smile.

The team were standing around CID later that night, analysing the day's events. Earlier they'd been forced to let Bolt go home on bail, pending a court appearance at the end of the week. The man had looked necessarily smug as he'd walked off into the evening light, his wife promising they'd regret messing with them. Stuart had simply seen them off with a friendly wave and a cheery smile before turning back to the station with curses under his breath. Still, the drugs charges were solid and he didn't doubt that he would see Bolt again soon, especially if he had anything to do with it.

"Anymore on Brecht?" Max asked, looking to Stuart.

He nodded. "Uniform found the phone by the river, dumped in the mud. He's disappeared off the face of the planet and now we've lost our only trace." Will's head fell.

"We'll find him." Millie muttered, more to Will than to the rest of them.

Stuart glanced at her and grinned. "Your optimism brightens my day Millie." She grinned back, curling her legs up under her as she leant back in her chair, watching the DS' and DI standing before them. "You're sticking with us?"

"Until we put Bolt away for good." She nodded, ignoring the look Max was now giving her.

"Good, you did well today PC Brown." The DI looked back to the desk in front of him where a few pictures that had just been removed from the incident room sat. "Especially with the Roxons. If you could stick with them, until we exhaust their link with this mess."

"You think there's a link there beyond the drugs?" Stevie asked.

"Well, it was a lot, and packages that big don't come in single doses." Neil frowned at the picture of Samuel Bolt. "And wherever Samuel, or Bradley, or whatever he calls himself now, wherever he is, he knows more about this than any of us. We need to find this boy." The others nodded, silent. Neil closed the folder. "You did well today everyone, but we're not across the finish line yet. Finish up here soon but then we're back on bright and early tomorrow morning. We need to find Brecht before he gets to those girls – wherever they are."

*

"Alright, pub?" Stevie asked, flicking off the small reading light on her desk.

Stuart nodded and grabbed his coat off the back of his chair. "Absolutely." He glanced at the DI who was still in the main office, dwelling on the Brecht file with a furrowed brow. "Coming Guv? Max's shout."

Max frowned but said nothing. The DI waved them off. "I'll catch up." He returned to his office as Will flicked off his computer and grabbed his jacket.

He turned to Millie. "You coming?" She glanced up, clearly not expecting to be asked, then nodded slowly. He touched her arm with a smile then caught up with Stevie and Stuart who were talking loudly. Millie stood, shutting the folder before her, and grabbed her jacket. As she did something crumpled and she pulled it out. It was half a Kit Kat. Max glanced up at it then looked back at his work. Millie just grinned and drew the half-melted chocolate from the packet.

Assessing it then dropping the packet in the bin next to Max's desk, she stopped. "Are you coming sarge?" He nodded silently. "Okay." Swapping the chocolate in her hands, she sucked the melted chocolate off the inside of her thumb quickly. "See you there." With her tan jacket over one arm, she left. Max glanced behind him as she walked away then, pushing back his chair and grabbing his coat, he flicked off his light as well.

**THE END**

_Up Next…_

Life On The Other Side: Natovnia

In Part 2 of _Life On The Other Side_, the team are surprised when they find that someone they thought was crooked turns out good. Using this new aid, they follow up Bolt's connections to a Croatian arms dealer with a creepy agenda…

'Natovnia' starts August 1st


End file.
